Abdul Halim re-elected ASTAF president, Malaysians fail to get on board

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Abdul Halim Kader of Singapore has been re-elected as the Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (ASTAF) president for the 2021-2025 term.

Abdul Halim defeated Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail and Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation president Mohd Nasri Haron after receiving 30 votes in the ASTAF Council election held online in conjunction with the ASTAF Congress yesterday.

In a statement yesterday, ASTAF said Ahmad Ismail, the deputy president of the federation in 2016-2021, and Mohd Nasri did not get even a single vote.

Two other Malaysians, Abdullah Salleh and Yusoff Ali, also failed to be elected into the council. Abdullah contested for the deputy presidency while Yusoff vied for a council seat.

Charlem Chaiwatcharaporn of Thailand and Yogender Singh Dahiya of India were elected as deputy presidents after garnering 30 and 29 votes respectively, defeating Indonesia's Asnawi Abdul Rachman and Abdullah.

Meas Sarin of Cambodia, Soe Naing (Myanmar), Sohrab Azad Khankandi (Iran), Masaru Misawa (Japan), Oh Joo Young (South Korea), Syafrizal Bahtiar (Indonesia), Tsai Hung-Peng (Taiwan) and Noushad Ahmed Khan (Pakistan) were elected as vice-presidents after obtaining 30 votes each.

Ten more council member posts were filled by Le Hong Tinh of Vietnam, Samaranyake Abeykoonge Kingsley Chareendra de Silva (Sri Lanka), Safaa Sahib Nayyef Alnawafali (Iraq), Kasem Inthara (Laos), Chan Wai Yuen (Hong Kong), Un Oi Mou (Macau), Abdulaziz Albusaidi (Oman), Netra Prasad Gurung (Nepal), Mohammed Faruque Dhali (Bangladesh) and Mohammad Yasin Mohammadi (Afghanistan).

Boonchai Loorphipat of Thailand was appointed as secretary general and Singapore's Muhammad Fariq as his deputy while Fariq's countryman Md Nazarisham Md Isa was made treasurer.

-- BERNAMA