SHAH ALAM – Malaysia are likely to send a much smaller contingent to the 11th Asean Para Games (APG) in Solo (Surakarta), Indonesia from July 20 to 31.
Paralympic Council of Malaysia (MPM) president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin said this was due to several constraints such as budget, lack of time to prepare the contingent as well as concerns about the safety of athletes following the Covid-19 Omicron variant raging around the world.
According to him, the decision on participation in the Games will only be decided after getting approval from the National Security Council (MKN) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), if Indonesia are confirmed as the organiser of the Games this February 17.
Megat said with the increase in Omicron cases worldwide and the daily number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia reaching 10,000 cases yesterday, MPM did not want to put athletes at risk.
“We did not support the organisation (of this Games) at last month’s meeting because (at that time) Indonesia were still on the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) non-compliant list and it (organisation) was something at the last minute.
“This year we have many major tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and several qualifying meets for the Paris 2024 Paralympics, so we have to choose according to priority,” he told reporters after officiating the ‘Fitness and Exercise for Persons with Disabilities’ course at UiTM Puncak Alam here today.
The Board of Governors (BoG) of the Asean Para Games Federation (APSF) last month granted conditional permission for Indonesia to host the Games, after Vietnam cancelled its organisation last year.
The permission was conditional to Indonesia being removed from restrictions imposed by Wada following non-compliance in implementing testing programmes effectively.
According to an APSF press release last month, the BoG will hold a special meeting on February 17 to discuss and ensure that all conditions including strict Covid-19 prevention procedures are met before Indonesia are officially announced as the host of the APG.
However, on Thursday (February 3), Wada lifted sanctions on Indonesia and Thailand when the country’s names were removed from the non-compliant list with only North Korea and Russia remaining on it.
Meanwhile, Megat said 26 participants participated in the six -day course sponsored by Toyota with the support of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). They will receive a third level coaching certificate.
“Courses like this are important for MPM to empower coaches to find and train talent at the grassroots level who have the potential to become world champions. After this, we will organise in Alor Setar in early March and Kuching in late March ... hopefully we can attract around 300 participants in total, “he said. – Bernama, February 7, 2022
