Hanis Nadiah suspended from representing Malaysia at Cambodia SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR: For making sensitive comments on social media, national women's hockey player Hanis Nadiah Onn paid the price when she was suspended and not allowed to represent the national team at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games, this May.

The decision was made by an Investigation Committee of the National Sports Council (MSN) and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) which met last Tuesday regarding the issue of Hanis Nadiah's alleged racially charged comments related to Indian singer and composer AR Rahman's concert in the federal capital, last month.

The committee jointly chaired by MSN Director-General Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail and MHC president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal had called up Hanis Nadiah, who was also Asia's Most Promising Player 2016, for an interview session to help investigate the issue.

As a result of the session and after evaluating some other findings regarding the issue, the committee concluded that Hanis Nadiah had uploaded racist comments because the comments were directed at the concert, the majority of whom attended were Indians.

"Accordingly, the committee found Hanis Nadiah guilty as an individual for making statements or comments publicly on her social media account that tended to insult, curse or insult others.

"Hanis Nadiah was also found guilty of making comments that could be misinterpreted or cause misunderstanding, annoyance or anger of another party," said a statement from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) today.

Hanis Nadiah was also found guilty of making comments that caused damage to the image of the team and MHC, which clearly violated the code of ethics of the hockey governing body.

However, according to the statement, MHC will re-evaluate the decision regarding the 26-year-old player if she shows a positive change in attitude.

In the meantime, the Investigation Committee hopes that the action taken will serve as a useful reminder and lesson to Hanis Nadiah and all national athletes to always be careful with any posts or comments on all social media platforms.

Meanwhile, in the same statement, national women's hockey squad coach Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim informed that as the main player of the team, Hanis Nadiah was of humble and disciplined character throughout trainings and tournaments in addition to having many Indian hockey contacts.

-- BERNAMA