COS: The Sports Police.

Almost without exception I find 2 types of emotion whenever MCF is discussed among the people who love chess. Either intense anger or deep resignation. Some vacillate between the 2 states. However both states are framed in the negative and not helpful to finding a solution.

I was once heatedly accused by a parent of a National Junior of defending racism when I did not declare that Dato's sponsorship of Li Tian was about racism. And another parent of a National Junior recently said to me that the only way to have a leg to stand in Malaysian chess is to be the undisputed champ.

I have stated my understanding of Dato's sponsorship a few times on this blog so I will move on. As for the view of the other parent, read this again. Here. If you follow my reasoning of the current structure, then you will see that after 20yo, the players won't have a chance to represent the Country anymore unless they are also among the highest rated in Malaysia. And for that they have to compete against historical rating from a different age and a system that is devised to keep certain rating high. So if you look really carefully, it's not about chess anymore. It's about this. Here. The deal.

Note: Without a chance to compete for a place you cannot even get sponsorship to play, and so you really really have no chance at all. Even if you have the finances yourself, you will find that to reach that rating in today's chess is very very difficult. Totally different from yesteryear. Very well sewn up to prevent challenges. The Jimmy method.

So I can understand the frustrations. No solution for donkey years and so the pent up anger or sense of resignation. I submit that this is because the highest authority we appeal to is MCF and MCF is rotten to the core. In my experience all our appeals disappear into a bottomless pit. For instance I was asked to produce the constitution of PICA for MCF to examine. And a few months later I am told that it has been misplaced. So it is useless talking to them, I know that too.

My sources tell me that there is an Authority that we can go to. And that Authority is the Commissioner of Sports (COS). COS has disciplinary powers. They can suspend an Association if they do not follow the rules. I am also told they can even barr an individual from office if they can establish that the individual has abused his/her authority. When I received this feedback recently, I felt this is the much better way for those of us who are not looking for office but want healthy competition all the same.

But it works like this. Let me use an analogy. If a member of your Residents Association were to go to the police and ask for more patrols in your area, the police will check against the statistics of the reports of the incidents of crime in your area to see if it justifies the allocation of more manpower. If there are no reports then no additional resources can be allocated.

I am told that COS will and can take action if there are genuine reports. But I am also told that so far there are no complaints from chess.

So this is the address and website:

Sports Commissioner Office , Level 3, National Aquatic Centre 
National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil 57700 Sri Petaling, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-8994 4800/01 Fax: 03-8994 4810 , Email : pps@kbs.gov.my,  

http://pps.kbs.gov.my/

Go to the site and see for yourself.

I will write more about this later but I suggest that the first report can be about the bogus selection. I think those who took part in the selection have the right to write in. And those that feel that they have been swindled out of their place in "selection" have the right to write in.

COS has been set up by our Government for the very reasons of the type of problems we are facing The Department has been set up to bring Malaysian Sport to a higher level. Apparently this gangster type mentality is also happening in other sports. So write to them if you cannot get satisfaction from our Associations. Allow COS to take action by lodging a complaint. 

For me that is the better solution than anger or just giving up. Our sport shows us this clearly. Chess is the thinking man's sport. The mind game. Anger and frustration just allows them a cheap win.

ps: Please help me spread this message to those in need of this information. Thank you.