Digging their own grave

source from Mmail by Haresh Deol dated on 6 Feb 09.

The Federal Territory AAA (FTAAA) have only themselves to blame for the quagmire they’re in.

They were complacent and this has resulted in their losing their only source of income — the KL International Marathon.

FTAAA’s inaction, as revealed during the Press conference at Wisma OCM yesterday, allowed the national body to muscle in with their own plans.

The KL International Marathon will take place this year — on June 28 — but under the auspices of the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) who have signed a sponsorship deal for the same with an event management company Octagon-Asia last October.

The deal will see MAAU receiving RM500,000 annually for the next 10 years. In return, Octagon has exclusive rights to organise an international marathon in KL for the next 10 years.
Until yesterday, FTAAA were still contemplating their next move. FTAAA raked in almost RM150,000 in entry fees when they organised the marathon and that money was used to run their programmes.

The role played by Olympic Council of Malaysia vice president Datuk Seri Ibrahim Saad — a ‘senior consultant’ with Octagon Asia — has also raised eyebrows.
The event — now to be called Standard Chartered KL International Marathon — is also yet to be approved by the Sports Commissioner.

FTAAA vice-president Leo Leslie Amstrong was tongue-tied when asked why FTAAA failed to address the matter aggressively from the beginning.

“We met MAAU president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and were assured there would be a meeting among the three parties involved — MAAU, FTAAA and Octagon Asia. But that meeting was never arranged,” added Leslie.

“We have written to the SC’s office and told them of our predicament. We hope they will look into it.” The matter remained unresolved as of yesterday as FTAAA had also applied for copyright for the “KL Marathon” and “KL International Marathon” trademarks