Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu has reportedly questioned national diver Pandelela Rinong for bringing up “old stories” of her former coach’s alleged sexual misconduct.
According to a report by Free Malaysia Today, the minister wanted to know why she is bringing up the incident which happened “long ago”.
“I am trying to understand why after a long time, Lela (Pandelela) wants to put this out on social media,” he was quoted telling reporters after an official event in Bangi, Selangor.
Faizal also reportedly said he has spoken to certain parties regarding the incident to get a clearer picture of what happened.
He also said he will be speaking to Khairy Jamaluddin soon. Khairy was the sports minister at the time of the incident and is now the health minister.
National athletes were urged to speak up on any form of sexual harassment by reporting them to their parents or authorities, Faizal was reported as saying.
Last Thursday, Pandelela shared on social media that she had a coach who liked to make lewd jokes, but athletes could not do anything about him because he had the backing of the head coach.
“I kept quiet or I might muster a fake laugh (when the jokes were made) because I was scared of him.
“There was one time I couldn’t stand it anymore and I chastised him, but I got bullied after that.
“Seven years later, he committed rape,” she shared.
Her revelation came amid national outrage against actor Mohd Fauzi Mohd Nawawi who was chastised online for joking on a talk show about how he enjoyed filming rape scenes.
Fauzi has since apologised.
In contrast to Faizal’s reported response, Khairy had thanked Pandelela for speaking up.
He said there are still sports journalists who questioned his decision to “shake up Malaysian diving” in light of these allegations several years ago.
However, he said he has no regrets because the safety of athletes takes precedence over winning medals “all day, every day”.
Meanwhile, Faizal’s deputy Ti Lian Ker said on Friday that the coach’s services had been terminated immediately, while the head coach accused of covering up the wrongdoings did not get his contract extended.
He also assured that victims of sexual misconduct will be given proper protection when they come forward to make a complaint.
He said the Misconduct and Harassment in Sports Committee was formed in 2020 to ensure the management of the country’s high-performance sports complaints are handled efficiently. - Mkini
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