5 associations yet to appoint managers for Korat

Kuala Lumpur: Five sports associations have yet to name their team managers for the SEA Games in Korat, Thailand to be held in December.

Malaysia's Chef-de-Mission to the Games from Dec 6 to 15, Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the sports associations for football, futsal, dancesport, wushu and equestrian (polo) had yet to submit the name of their respective team managers. "The five associations should submit the name of their respective managers as soon as possible to speed up planning by the national contingent.

"Malaysia will compete in 40 of the 43 types of sports listed and since Malaysia is sending a large contingent, the appointment of team managers must be speeded up to facilitate all transactions," he told Bernama, here Wednesday.

He had earlier chaired a meeting of all the SEA Games team managers at the National Sports Council (NSC) Complex, Bukit Jalil, here Wednesday.

In another development, Zainal Abidin said the national contingent might engage the services of the low-cost carrier, AirAsia, for the first time to ferry the national athletes and officials to Thailand.

"Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) honorary secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi is still discussing the matter with AirAsia," he said.

However, he said, there could be a problem in using AirAsia as the equipment such as pistols and rifles for the national shooting team could only be taken out of the country by Malaysia Airlines (MAS). "Possibly some of the contingent members will fly by AirAsia while some might travel by MAS," he added. - Bernama