It is the year of elections for several major sports associations in Malaysia.
While the Football Association of Malaysia now sees a new guard at the helm following the 61st Congress held last Saturday, the attention has shifted to the upcoming Badminton Association of Malaysia and Olympic Council of Malaysia elections.
However, one sport seems to have gone under the radar – athletics. It has gone largely unnoticed that the national body had, in fact, changed its name from Malaysian Athletics Federation to Malaysia Athletics on Jan 15, 2025.
With the name change comes a new constitution, extending the office-bearers’ terms from three, to four years, with a limit of two terms. Previously, it was a maximum of three, three-year terms.
However, the new constitution has stirred speculation, with whispers suggesting that current office-bearers are eager to remain for an additional year, pushing the elections to 2026 instead of June 30, for fear of being challenged this year.
The current president is Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who took office in 2022. He previously served as president of the national body from 2006 to 2012.
However, the Sports Commissioner’s Office (SCO), which approved the name change and constitutional amendments, clarified that the changes are only supposed to take effect after the AGM.
“When the amendments to the association’s name and constitution were submitted to us, we informed them that the changes would take effect after the elections,” said an SCO officer.
“Therefore, the term of office should end by June 30.
“However, if council members vote to adopt the changes immediately at the AGM, the elections could be pushed to next year.”
The SCO officer said Malaysia Athletics requested a change in line with World Athletics, which changed its name from the International Amateur Athletic Federation to the International Association of Athletics Federations before adopting the new name in 2019.
“If the amendments were proposed before the last elections and the affiliates and council members had agreed to four years pending approval, then it would be all right to postpone the elections to 2026,” he explained.
“However, the amendments were only submitted to us recently, and we approved them on Jan 15. Therefore, the council must adopt the new constitution if the office-bearers wish to remain in office for another year.”
