The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) dribbled itself into a mess after revealing the Tun Abdul Razak Cup will be held from Nov 3 to 11.
The national body had to be reminded by its affiliates that it had overlooked Deepavali on Nov 6 and will now have to reschedule the tournament.
Is the celebration so insignificant that it slipped the minds of the decision makers? Didn’t they check the calendar before fixing the dates?
Lack of “suitable playing dates” turned out to be the excuse. Would the committee use the same excuse to hold tournaments during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year or Christmas?
“We received feedback from several states about Deepavali and the committee will discuss again to reschedule the meet,” said MHC competitions manager Brian G. Fernandez.
“Those are the only dates we could come out with. We can’t have it in December as it’s too far off.”
“Perhaps we can have it just after the Sultan of Johor Cup (Oct 6 -13). But immediately after that is the Asian Champions Trophy (Oct 18-28) in Muscat, Oman.”
Brian added the availability of the turf was an issue as the Tun Abdul Razak Cup is both a men’s and women’s affair, requiring two pitches.
“There are many factors and it’s a busy year. The states would want to send their best players and ensure their players are available (for the Tun Abdul Razak Cup).
“Having a break in between the tournament for Deepavali would mean additional costs for the team and we would want to avoid that,” he added.
