KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — National discus thrower Irfan Shamsuddin should learn to control his emotions instead of publicly venting out his frustrations, Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF), Datuk Karim Ibrahim said today.

Irfan, the national record holder at 62.55m, called out Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and various national associations on Instagram late last night, for terminating the contract of his personal coach of six years, Fero Petrovic, late last year.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Just wanna ask you @syedsaddiq, mula2 you bubarkan PODIUM. Then my coach ditamatkan contract serta merta selepas saya pecahkan record kebangsaan 13 kali, 3x SEA Games gold and Asian Championship Silver medal yang saya bersama sama achieved with my coach within 6 years of working together dan elaun dipotong separuh. I’m still alright with it, but right now the situation is I’m without coach dan saya nak pergi training camp tapi tiada bajet (ticket flight saya dah beli). May I ask you a question Yb, you suruh athletes buat results, but you terminate my coach contract, and now that I’ve a new coach(so far saya bayar pakai duit saya sendiri) and right now you tell me, saya takda coach, and then my plan to train overseas tak diluluskan. Explain to me? adakah ini yang YB maksudkan dengan #youthpower? What’s your vision and mission in our sports actually YB? #youthpower #formycountry

A post shared by Irfan Shamshuddin (@irfan_sham) on

 

The termination is in line with the ministry’s wish to revamp the sporting landscape in line with the current economic situation.

“Showing your anger towards the sports minister isn’t fair as all decisions made on athletes welfare involve all parties including the National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institute (NSI), Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and MAF,” Karim said in a statement today.

“The next coach that we hire needs to be vetted properly and he or she cannot just be Irfan’s private coach but must be able to work with us till the 2022 Asian Games while also being available to train the national back-up squad.

“We at MAF have tried to discuss the matter with Irfan but he has his own ways and we deeply regret his actions.”

On December 31, all national athletes including those in the now defunct Podium Programme had their contracts terminated. These contracts are under review.

Athletes who wanted to continue to train abroad were allowed to do so at their own expense, like what high jumper Nauraj Singh is currently doing. The Johorian is paying his way to continue to train with coach Alec Stewart in Australia.

“Irfan wants to train in the Czech Republic but at the moment it’s not practical as we do not have enough information on the training venue and the validity of the expertise available there,” added Karim.

“We will continue to find the best ways to help our athletes and discussions are already underway to find the best solutions for them.”

Irfan on his instagram post said: “YB (Syed Saddiq) you asked the athletes for results but you terminated my coach’s contract. I am paying for my own coach now but approval for me to train abroad hasn’t been forthcoming. Explain to me, is this what you mean by Youth Power?

What’s your vision and mission in our sports actually YB? “