PICKLEBALL POLITICS: Insider Rallies Behind MPA President As Association Fights For Survival

MPA President Delima Ibrahim, backed publicly by grassroots community admin Jane Teh, is fighting to prove her legitimacy while simultaneously racing to save the association from government deregistration.

Pickleball Stories Malaysia/Jane Teh

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Malaysia’s pickleball community is erupting — and not over a missed shot.

The Malaysia Pickleball Association (MPA) is simultaneously battling a government suspension, a legitimacy crisis, and an online war, prompting Jane Teh, admin of one of the country’s largest pickleball community groups, to publish a pointed public endorsement of MPA President Delima Ibrahim.

Teh described Delima drawing court lines, managing logistics with zero paid staff, and refereeing matches at Malaysia’s first-ever large-scale pickleball tournament at Bukit Jalil in November 2023 — all as a volunteer, long before any presidency was on the table.

And for those still asking — Delima plays pickleball; community members confirm she was on the courts, not just in the boardroom.

That matters because the question “do they even play?” has haunted MPA’s new leadership board since its announcement earlier this month.

The Founding Father’s Pick

Teh also revealed that Nicholas Farrell Choo — widely credited as the founding father of Malaysia Pickleball — personally chose Delima as his successor when he stepped down in July 2025, a move the Sports Commissioner’s Office (SCO) ruled unconstitutional, as MPA’s own rules require the deputy president to assume the role automatically.

That single succession decision became one of several key governance violations cited when the SCO suspended MPA on 27 February under the Sports Development Act 1997.

The violations ran deep — AGMs held in 2021, 2022, and 2023 failed to meet the required quorum, elections were conducted by ineligible members, and multiple committee members were appointed rather than elected.

“I have been left with no choice but to suspend MPA due to governance issues — it has not followed its constitution on several matters,” said Sports Commissioner Arrifin Ghani.

MPA now has until late March to submit a formal explanation, failing which it faces full deregistration — stripping it of its status as Malaysia’s sole national pickleball body.

Delima maintains the association complied fully by holding a remedial AGM on 13 January, though Arrifin noted she had indicated she was not fully aware of several of the irregularities at the time.

Meanwhile, MPA has moved to reassure event partners, confirming it remains the sole recognised governing body during the remedial period and that no restrictions have been placed on its ability to endorse or co-organise competitions, with Delima listed as the direct point of contact.

The Online War Nobody Is Pretending Isn’t Happening

Teh did not hold back on what she sees as a coordinated campaign against Delima.

She called out a critic she named as “James Kwan” — accusing the account of hiding behind what she described as a fake profile, running a vested-interest agenda, and using AI-generated content to sow discord within the community.

The accusations are Teh’s own, and Kwan has not publicly responded to them.

What is clear is that the MPA presidency has become, in Teh’s own words, “a bag of poo — everyone wants it, but nobody wants the responsibility.”

Her message to the critics was direct: “If you really think you can do better, form your own state organisation, show us your results — then come tell us what you can do better than Delima. If not, just shut up and let her do her work.”

Pickleball is one of the country’s fastest-growing sports communities — and with that growth has come the inevitable growing pains of money, power, and politics.

Delima may well be the right person to deliver better governance — but first, she has to save the association she now leads from being entirely wiped off the official register.