KUALA LUMPUR: The Sports Commissioner’s Office has suspended the Malaysia Pickleball Association (MPA) under the Sports Development Act 1997, giving it 30 days from Feb 27 to explain why it should not be deregistered.
The suspension follows a show cause letter issued on Feb 4, which gave MPA 14 days to respond to the proposed action under Section 20(1A)(c) and (e) of the Act, after a series of governance concerns that have been under scrutiny for more than a year.
Sports Commissioner Arrifin Ghani said he signed the suspension letter yesterday following discussions with acting president Delima Ibrahim.
Earlier, deputy president Harmeet Singh had replied to the show cause letter on behalf of the association.
“I have been left with no choice but to suspend MPA due to governance issues. It is not something I like to do, but it has not followed its constitution on several matters,” said Arrifin, a former national hockey player.
“My job is to ensure governance in every association. When we spoke to Delima, she claimed she was not aware of several of the irregularities.
“Ignorance of the law is not a defence. There are members within the association who are aware of the proper procedures. I hope MPA can resolve the issues we have highlighted.”
Arrifin added that although MPA is suspended, it remains the only recognised national body for pickleball, amid speculation that several parties are seeking to replace it.
“As far as our office is concerned, MPA is the only national pickleball association until further notice,” he said.
“They have been suspended, not deregistered. They have a month to get their house in order.”
The problems in MPA began when its former president, Farrell Choo, stepped down and named Delima as his successor in July 2025.
Under MPA’s constitution, when a president steps down, the leadership role should go to the deputy president.
Another issue was that several members of the main committee were handpicked instead of being elected.
The Sports Commissioner’s Office also reviewed AGMs held in previous years and found that the AGMs for 2021, 2022 and 2023 were conducted without achieving the required quorum. It also found that elections for the main committee were carried out solely by individual members who were not entitled to vote under Clause 10.2 of the MPA Constitution.
In light of what it described as the association’s failure to remedy the irregularities and conduct its affairs in accordance with its constitution, the Sports Commissioner said there were sufficient grounds for suspension.
