The Olympic Council of Malaysia "slammed the behavior of the nation's athletes" after being landed with a $40,000 bill for fines and damage to accommodation at last year's Asian Games, according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. The 142,478 Malaysian Ringgit bill, sent by organizers of the Asiad in Incheon, South Korea last September and October, "was the highest the OCM had ever received after a major multi-sport Games." OCM Secretary General Sieh Kok Chi said, "The discipline among our athletes is getting from bad to worse. I believe that there is an urgent need to check this ... otherwise it'll escalate. 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." He said that the fines "would be passed on to the sports associations whose athletes were responsible," with the sepak takraw team now facing a $24,355 bill. He added, "The OCM cannot afford to pay this kind of money. We've sent letters to the associations on the matter" (REUTERS, 5/17).
