KUALA LUMPUR: Elite athletes should do away with the attitude of pointing fingers at the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) when their performance dips but instead be grateful for the assistance rendered to them, said MAAU president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim.

He said this syndrome (of blaming others for one's failure) was rearing its ugly head of late.

"Do not bite the hands that feed you. MAAU has contributed a lot towards making athletes become successful," he said when contacted by Bernama here Saturday.

He added that he was dissapointed that there were elite athletes blaming the MAAU for their own failure despite he himself coming with money from his own pocket to help them compete in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

He said such an attitude showed the athletes concerned had poor ethics and lacked professionalism.

"Because of my love for athletics, I was willing to come up with my own money to send athletes to Guangzhou. But when they failed to win medals, they point the fingers at MAAU," said the former Perlis menteri besar.

Shahidan also took to task athletes who preferred to go to the media to voice their grievances than bring them up with the MAAU.

He said any athlete who was dissatisfied with the MAAU should by right see him with the evidence to support their case so that action could be taken against the persons responsible.

"I, as the president, have the power to sack any MAAU official found to be in the wrong. As such, athletes need not worry," he said.

Prior to this, several athletes like women's 400m hurdler Norseela Khalid and women's pole vauter Roslinda Samsu had voiced their dissatisfaction about the MAAU administration and certain MAAU officials whom they claimed were blocking their progresss.