Malaysian athletes warned after Asian Games damage

Malaysian athletes have been warned about their future conduct after running up damages of more than £25,000 at last year's Asian Games in South Korea.

The country's sportsmen and women are reported to have flooded dormitories, damaged property and left cigarette burns in carpets.

"The discipline among our athletes is getting from bad to worse," Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, secretary general of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), told The Malaysia Star. "I believe that there is an urgent need to check this ... otherwise it'll escalate.

"The OCM board have already been briefed about the fines and they've decided that the sports concerned will have to fork out the payment.

"The OCM cannot afford to pay this kind of money. We've sent letters to the associations on the matter.

"Smoking was again the major issue ... damage to property was the other. In some cases. The damage was minimal but the host made a big issue and wanted us to pay for the whole thing, so we had no choice but to pay up."

The fines, for which sepak takraw athletes are said to be the biggest culprits, add to lesser penalties dished out to the OCM at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but Asian Games chef de mission Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah is critical of organisers in Incheon.

"Some of it is really petty," he added. "Even the cigarette stain was a problem.

"I agree that our athletes should not have done it as they had been briefed and warned of the consequences.

"Despite the hefty fine, I don't think indiscipline in Incheon is a big issue."