The Malaysian Hockey Federation bowed to pressure from several quarters and sacked its national coach, Paul Lissek.
The decision to drop the German super coach was apparently taken following the team's lacklustre performances in three major international tournaments, including the recent Asia Cup, where Malaysia finished fifth among eight teams.
Malaysian Hockey Federation secretary S Satgunam said a letter, stating Lissek has been redesignated from national chief coach to junior development coach, was faxed to the federation by the National Sports Council.
Satgunam said no replacement has been named.
"At the moment there is no national senior coach. With the Afro-Asian Games just around the corner the management committee will meet with the coaching committee to decide who to name as new senior coach," Satgunam was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper on Thursday.
Lissek started off as a consultant to the Malaysian team three months before the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and guided Malaysia to hugely successful silver medal. The NSC then employed him on a full-time basis after the 2000 Sydney Olympics. However, in a span of three years, the only success the German had to show was a third-place finish in the 2002 Asian Games.
The current season saw Malaysia slip from bad to worse, finishing last in the Azlan Shah Trophy and Champions Challenge. The team's dismal showing in the Asia Cup, which was won by India, had the media and fans baying for his blood.
