ALOR GAJAH - Father of one of the volleyball players allegedly slapped by a coach asks netizens to stop the threats made towards the individuals.
Factory technician Abd Halim Bakar, 50, said although what happened could have been a mistake made by the coach, but it did not cause injuries to his 14-year-old daughter.
He said his daughter was worried about the coach because of the money and time the latter sacrificed to ensure the volleyball team could continue to develop.
He said two of his daughters were trained by the coach.
"From having no knowledge of volleyball to now representing Melaka for state tournaments even though my child is just from a rural school.
"Sometimes they would not have a place to train, sometimes they had to go to an area with red soil however, the coach continued to aid and sacrifice his time for them,” he said when met by reporters at Kampung Melekek, here, on Tuesday.
The father of five said he asked his daughter’s friend who was slapped about the incident and the teenager said it was nothing and did not cause any harm.
Halim said his daughter was worried if actions would be taken against the coach as he had a vision in the volleyball team and intended to raise the name of Melaka.
He said his daughter had trained with the coach since primary school and is now in high school.
"My daughter is sad because that’s her coach and they pleaded for no actions to be taken because they liked the teacher.
"I don’t want to take any actions towards the teacher that dedicated himself to Melaka, especially in volleyball and we have no intention to make a police report,” he said.
He explained the individual had contacted him to apologise and intended to meet for a public apology.
Halim said he felt strange as the incident on Dec 16 in Johor went viral after his daughter’s team successfully made it to the semi-finals in Selangor where the Melaka volleyball team achieved fourth place.
"It was strange that it went viral after two weeks; however, the actions of the netizen made him scared and he took some time to calm himself down.
"He (the coach) contacted me and was prepared to apologise to clear his name,” he said.