REMORSEFUL sambo exponent Mirage Khan has pleaded with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to forgive him and allow him to compete in this year’s Philippines Sea Games.
The 29-year-old was recently banned by the Malaysian Sambo Association (Sambo Malaysia) for misconduct after taking to the social media to slam OCM and its president, Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria, for not allowing sambo athletes to compete in the biennial Games.
However, the national governing body reversed their decision last week after receiving a letter of apology and online video of Mirage openly seeking forgiveness.
Mirage, who won silver at the Asian Wushu Championships (2012) and Sanda World Cup, wrote in his letter: “I would like to humbly apologise to Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria, the president of OCM, for my emotional outburst to the media and for my uncalled postings on Facebook.
“I realise that my actions had done injustice and this has resulted in me being suspended from all sambo activities as of Sept 1.
“I have repented and corrected all my mistakes.
“I sincerely appeal to Datuk Seri Norza to allow me to participate in the Sea Games this year with a magnanimous heart.
“I promise I will not let you down.”
It is understood that Mirage could still make the Games as the closing date for registration has been extended till end of this month.
When contacted by Timesport, Sambo Malaysia president Johnathan Wong, said: “We have received and gone through Mirage’s appeal and concluded that he is indeed remorseful.
“Also, after watching his online video, we (Sambo Malaysia) have decided to forgive him and let him off with a warning.
“However, him representing the country at the Sea Games will depend entirely on OCM.”
OCM had initially decided to leave out sambo from the Games due to the national association’s lack of grassroots development.