PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysia Volleyball Association (Mava) has revoked the coaching licence of Saiful Hadee Amar, the coach of Melaka Under-14 girls' volleyball team, who came under fire for slapping two of his female players.
Mava took the action through its legal and disciplinary committee and it was agreed by the Youth and Sports as well as the Education Ministries.
The decision was announced by ministers Hannah Yeoh and Fadhlina Sidek as well as Mava in a joint press conference at Menara KBS today.
Saiful held a Volleyball Coaching Certificate (Sport Specific) Level 1 provided by Mava, said Yeoh.
"As an initial step, the sports coach (Saiful) who is also a teacher, will no longer be allowed to be a coach for the sport, including a coach for school pupils.
"The National Sports Council (MSN) and Mava have concluded their investigations and they unanimously decided that the coach should lose his eligibility to coach.
"We do not have anything personal against the coach or the host organiser. We want this incident to serve as a lesson and a deterrent," she said.
A clip of the incident, which went viral, showed Saiful, 44, slapping two of his players during the recent 2022 Malaysia Youth U-14 Volleyball Championship in Kota Tinggi, Johor, which took place from Dec 14 to Dec 16.
Mava subsequently suspended Saiful from involving in all national volleyball activities until the probe concluded.
The Melaka Under-14 girls' volleyball team urged netizens to stop making the incident viral, saying that they loved their coach and that they would stand by him and the team.
The father of one of the two students slapped by Saiful said he had forgiven the coach and hoped no disciplinary action would be taken against him.
Saiful later apologised and said he did not intend to hurt the players but wanted to boost their spirits and motivate them.
Yeoh and Fadhlina also said they could not condone violence and issues such as this should not be swept under the carpet, although in this particular case, there were no injuries inflicted on the two players.
They said their ministries would not tolerate such incidences especially in their efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of athletes, particularly the younger generation which could hinder the development of the country's future talents.
Saiful, she said, had yet to apply for the coaching licence provided by the National Coaching Licensing Scheme (SLKK) and the National Coaching Certification Scheme (SPKK) as agreed by the National Coaching Academy (AKK), National Sports Institute (ISN) with other national sports associations.
The ministry, she said, had directed AKK and ISN to strengthen the regulation that all coaches be required to renew their SPKK certification every two years to ensure that all national coaches were monitored throughout their coaching careers.
Yeoh urged coaches to undergo courses at AKK to explore new ways and techniques to be more efficient and effective and adhere to professional standards accepted by all.
Meanwhile, Fadhlina said the ministry had also concluded its investigation and studied the report, especially those that involved ethics and affecting the image of the teaching profession.
She said as civil servants, teachers were subject to Rule 4(2)d of the Civil Servants (Conduct and Discipline) 1993 Regulation.
Fadhlina said in line with Rule 4(2)d of the Civil Servants (Conduct and Discipline) 1993 Regulation, the state education department could take action against any person who had acted in a manner that was inappropriate, went against regulations or had raised public concern on safety of students by teachers.
"There is room for Saiful to appeal and we leave it to the department to look into this holistically, including Saiful's representation in the appeal process.
"The department will determine the most appropriate action," she said.