'It’s a mountain to climb' says sports enthusiast on Hans's appointment

SHAH ALAM - It’s a mountain to climb for the newly appointed Malaysia Stadiums Board chairman Datuk Hans Isaac to lead the biggest Malaysian sports facility.

Hans was appointed to the position earlier this month and is among the 16 appointments made to the board which also includes individuals from the corporate, sports, and government sectors.

Former sports journalist Ahmad Faisal Mohamed Fiah said that Hans, who is an actor and PKR member was a political appointee.

"I personally don’t know what capacity Datuk Hans Isacc has that would contribute to the development of sports; maybe he was politically appointed, but I believe he was appointed because of his previous achievements in the entertainment industry as an actor, director and others," Ahmad explained.

Hans was previously the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) chairman from 2019 to 2020.

"I don’t look at it as Hans having no experience in sports. As we know, he was also appointed as a Finas Chairman before. I believe that with that kind of experience, he will be able to be the Malaysia Stadiums Board chairman.

"But again, as I said, it’s a mountain for him," he told Sinar Daily.

Ahmad, to put it on record, said that he wants to clarify that entertainment and sports are two different industries.

"Some people also assume that sports are part of the entertainment industry, but that’s not right. Entertainment is entertainment, and sport is sport.

Not just Hans, but Ahmad also added that the Youth and Sports Minister also needs to work hard in order to enhance the national sports facilities.

"Our sports facilities are still not profitable, not because we don’t have top quality but because our sports industry is still not in good shape right now based on the economy.

"For me, if someone is leading the stadium management, especially in Malaysia, the most important thing is that the person needs to have knowledge in sports and understand the facilities of Bukit Jalil Stadium, Axiata Arena, and others," he who is also the senior lecturer of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), said.

As a newly elected chairman, Hans should also have knowledge of the current Malaysian sports news, he added.

"As we can see, Malaysian football is not so good, so he needs to know how to boost the usage of the stadium," he said.

In fact, he added that a chairman, chief executive officer, or manager should have brilliant ideas to boost the income and profit of a stadium.

"For example, our national stadium has the capacity to accommodate over a hundred thousand people, but not all matches are organised and have succeeded in drawing crowds of not even more than 80,000, except for the Piala Malaysia and Piala FA finals.

"But for the rest, we hardly get less than 80,000 attendees. So, this could be a challenge for the new management," Ahmad explained.

Besides sports activities, the latest management also needs to boost other activities, he added.

"The main priority is to be part of the sports management in Malaysia, but my concern is adding value to the stadium." Hans has earlier posted a picture of himself alongside Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and captioned it, "The role given to me is not only merely a post but comes with a great responsibility that needs to be executed in the best manner."

Hans narrowly lost the contest for the Ampang PKR chief post last year to Syed Ahmad Syed Abdul Rahman Alhadad, better known as rapper Altimet.