Officials have to answer for the fiasco in Tokyo

 

Punctuality is a cornerstone of discipline. In any spectrum of daily life including work, study and even sports, the issue of being on time is always on the forefront. Punctuality shows professionalism, increases one’s credibility and shows respect for other people’s time. It speaks of integrity and always helps one keep ahead.

The life of George Washington, it has been said, was characterised by a scrupulous regard for punctuality. When he told Congress that he’d meet with them at noon, he could almost always be found striding into the chamber just as the clock was striking twelve.

Washington’s promptness extended to his mealtimes as well. He had dinner daily at exactly 4pm and when he invited members of Congress to dine with him, and when they arrived late, they were often surprised to find the president halfway done with his meal or even pushing back from the table.

To his startled tardy guests, he would say: “We are punctual here. My cook never asks whether the company has arrived, but whether the hour has come.”

Punctuality in any field can be an expensive affair but nothing is more reprehensible than being defeated by the clock in the field of sports. Golfers have learnt their lessons well. If not on the tee-box at the prescribed time, you are disqualified as Jim Furyk discovered in 2010.

He overslept when his mobile phone battery died and the alarm failed to sound, and apparently did all he could to make it to the course for his 7.30am tee time. After bolting out of bed, throwing on his clothes and arriving at Ridgewood Country Club five minutes late, without socks or a belt, he was told he could not play.

In July, Marcus Meloan was disqualified at the US Senior Open in July after he missed his restart time following a weather delay at Omaha Country Club. That meant a five-figure loss in earnings.

Similarly, in cricket, the rules require a batsman to be at the crease within three minutes of the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batsman. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out and marked as “timed out”. That is why at any given time, the batting side has at least two players padded-up (in full gear) should two wickets fall in succession.

Furore in Paralympics

Over the past two days, Malaysians despite their punctuality traits (more the lack of them), learnt a thing or two about being on time. However, they let off feelings of anger and disgust for the wrong reasons after Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was deprived of the gold in the men’s F20 shot put competition at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The abuse. many argued, was warranted because “he was only late by three minutes”, and they asked: “If disqualified, why was he allowed to compete.” Such puerile arguments were also put forward by one or two ministers.

The answers were provided by the World Para Athletics (WPA), which governs track and field for parasports, and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) - both put the issue in its correct perspective. However, it appears that their explanations either did not reach the Malaysian contingent or the media in Tokyo or was suppressed upon receipt.

IPC spokesperson Craig Spence explained the issue involving Ziyad and two other athletes: “They were late, they may have had a logical reason for being late, and therefore we allowed them to compete and looked at the facts of the matter afterward.”

Spence said the trio arrived three minutes late. He did not see the disqualification as a harsh penalty.

“Others get there five minutes early. I’m sorry. Rules are rules,” he said. “The decision was taken. It wasn’t the Ukrainians fault that the Malaysian was late.”

An appeal to the WPC was turned down after a referee had determined after the event that “there was no justifiable reason for the athletes' failure to report on time.”

But the Malaysian speciality - pouring venom on social media did not go unnoticed. Spence described it as “very abusive”, much of it targeted the Ukrainians.

“We are now seeing comments on all our social media posts that have nothing to do with the shot put event,” Spence said. He said the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee “was getting a lot of abuse from Malaysians.”

Where were the officials?

But here’s the clincher: Associated Press quoted Spence as saying the excuse given was that the Malaysian and the two others “didn’t hear the announcement or it was in a language they did not understand.” Were the announcements in Greek or Urdu? How come everyone else heard and understood?

The questions to ask are: Where were the officials who were supposed to accompany the athletes? Being disabled, they have to be guided every inch of the way. Where was the coach? Where was the manager? Where was the chef de mission? To say that they did not know the rules or did not understand the language should remind us of excuses like “the dog ate my homework.”

Yesterday, the National Sports Council (MSN) was instructed to get an initial report on the issue by the newly-minted Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu to “provide a further action plan which must be taken on the official protest and appeal which had been done, apart from coming up with an approach to address the same incident if it recurs in future.”

Quite a mouthful. What plausible reason can they provide for the late arrival of the athlete? The same song which was rejected cannot be sung again. What can they pull out from the hat?

Why hasn’t the chef de mission provided an explanation? After all, he is the supremo of the contingent and the buck stops with him. To date, he has not uttered a word and neither has the coach nor the manager. Are all dumbstruck or playing bodoh (stupid)? Or are all comfortable allowing Ziyad to carry the cross?

Postscript: We had a colleague who was regularly late for appointments and meetings. In trying to change his ways, we used to announce his arrival at meetings by saying: “Announcing the arrival of the late Mr So and So.” These episodes may have made him change his ways.

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R NADESWARAN said like athletes, officials too must go through a selection process to keep out unqualified officials who are rewarded with junkets for their apple-polishing abilities. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com. - Mkini