KUALA LUMPUR – The Kuala Lumpur Hockey Association (KLHA) has nullified the nomination elections from candidates linked to the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Sports Education Association (HockAcademy), headed by Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, due to alleged forged signatures – introducing a new twist to the ongoing situation.
Yesterday, the KLHA council made the decision to nullify the nominations of all the candidates involved, citing the discovery of a forged signature.
According to the council’s lawyer, Datuk Michael Wong, it was revealed that one of the candidates, Reginald Alan Netto, who was running for the vice president position, had his signature forged without his consent.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference yesterday, KLHA president I. Vikneswaran explained that Netto himself had approached the council, claiming his signature was forged and that he had not authorised his nomination.
“Netto came forward to us and said it was not him who intended to contest, and that his signature had been forged. He informed us via email that the nomination was submitted without his consent.
“We were already suspicious when reviewing the documents, and further investigation revealed that the hockey club he represents, Felda Hockey Club under HockAcademy, is not affiliated with KLHA.
“We had already carried out all necessary verifications, including contacting Felda directly,” said Vikneswaran when met at the Kuala Lumpur Hockey Stadium.
However, when contacted by Scoop for comment, Netto denied ever making such a claim to the KLHA council and said that he had given full authority to Megat to sign the nomination form on his behalf due to other commitments.
“I clearly deny saying that my signature was forged, as I gave Megat full permission to sign the nomination on my behalf.
“I did send an email to KLHA because I was nominated for the vice president post, which was not what we had initially discussed. I was supposed to be running for an executive member position, and that’s why I raised the issue.
“In fact, I have never met anyone from the KLHA council, including the president, since I raised concerns about the league’s postponement due to a water pump issue at the turf last year,” said Netto when contacted.
As both sides present conflicting accounts of the situation, the legitimacy of the nominations and the upcoming election remains uncertain.
The KLHA council has stood by their decision to invalidate the candidates’ nominations.
KLHA’s AGM is scheduled to take place this Saturday. – January 24, 2025.