Minister Hannah Yeoh said in a post on Twitter that this was to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“@KBSMalaysia will continue our independent investigation because this is not about one coach or two players but a precedent we are setting for the next generation in sports.

“@FadhlinaSiddiq and I are on this together. TQ,” she said, referring to the education minister.

In a video clip which has gone viral on social media, the coach is seen slapping the two girls at the 2022 Malaysia Youth U14 Volleyball Championship in Johor recently.

His action drew the ire of many, including Yeoh who said it was wrong to act in such a manner.

Earlier today, Melaka state youth development, sports and NGO executive councillor VP Shanmugam said the coach had met the students’ parents to apologise for his actions, Bernama reported.

Subsequently, the father of one of the two teenage students who were slapped by the coach said he had forgiven the teacher and hoped no disciplinary action would be taken on him.

Meanwhile, the Melaka Under-14 girls’ volleyball team had come out in support of their coach. In a Twitter posting, they urged netizens to stop making the incident viral on social media.

“Stop making this issue viral because we love our coach. Let us decide on what is good and bad. We will stand by our coach and our team,” they said.