Beasley, NSC running on different tracks

Head coach John Beasley has been reported as saying he is not too satisfied with the arrangements in terms of support for the track programme in Malaysia.

JUST a day after Malaysia completed an historic outing in the UCI Track World Championships in Pruskow, Poland, a potential face-off between head coach John Beasley and the National Sports Council (NSC) is on the cards.

NSC director general Datuk Zolkples Embong

Beasley was reported by news agency AFP to have admitted he welcomed a chance to work again with his native Australia, while adding that his priorities were towards "convincing Malaysia's sports authorities to give him solid backing."

Not just that, the Australian who was also responsible for the success of 2004 double Olympic champion Ryan Bayley, seemed to imply that he was not too comfortable with the arrangements of support for the track programme.

Since 2006, the track sprints programme that is based in Melbourne has been gradually expanded.

NSC director general Datuk Zolkples Embong, on the other hand, denied that there was any reason for Beasley to be unhappy with the current arrangements.
Beasley, on his part, has delivered success much earlier than expected with 21-year-old Azizul Hasni Awang bagging the 200m sprint silver medal in Pruskow on Sunday, a day after Rizal Tisin bagged the country's first ever World Championships medal with a bronze in the 1km time trial.

However, AFP's report quotes Beasley as not being too satisfied with the arrangements in terms of support for the track programme.

The agency quoted Beasley's response to a question on whether the performances would help reinforce support for his team, as being: "I would like to think so but we're having a bit of trouble in Malaysia at the moment.

"There's a new minister for sport and they have decided to put all our network -- our staff -- on month-by-month contracts. I've been working to keep it together, so it's not ideal for me, the riders or the staff.

"For the moment I'm happy to stay with Malaysia," he added.

"But I get on well with the Australian team and worked with them for many years. If the offer came along I'd like to go back there one day."

Zolkples responded by refuting Beasley's claims, even calling them untrue.

"There is no such thing as month-by-month contracts. All our support staff are on contracts for the duration of the programme," said Zolkples yesterday.

"The support for the programme in Melbourne, we've left it all to him. We allow him to recruit whoever he wants to work with in Melbourne and his wife too is part of the programme.

"I think it is better we not get too worked up over this. John will return with the team tomorrow (today) and he'll be here for two weeks, so we'll have time to discuss everything. He can tell us what he wants."

After initially being in charge of Josiah Ng, and then the sprints squad, Beasley was this year elevated to head coach of the entire cycling programme under the NSC.

NST