KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry and National Sports Council (NSC) need to make the best plans in evaluating the sports that have potential to contribute more medals in any tournament, said Senator Datuk Mohd Hisamudin Yahaya.
He said necessary actions include increasing financial allocations and sending potential medallists to train abroad, in addition to devising better training programmes for them.
“This will help the national contingent in terms of medal collection.
“However, focusing on ‘gold-mine’ events such as athletics and swimming does not mean that the agencies responsible for these sports should marginalise other sports that also have potential to contribute gold medals,” he said in a statement today.
According to him, sports associations also need to provide accurate information to the ministry, NSC, and also the Olympic Council of Malaysia to avoid setting medal targets that athletes cannot hit.
“The lack of accurate information risks setting a target that cannot be realised, as was the case at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games when Malaysia brought home 34 gold medals compared with the targeted 40,” he said.
At the same time, he said the failure at the Cambodia SEA Games should not be placed entirely on the shoulders of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and her deputy Adam Adli Abdul Halim, but all parties should take responsibility, including the leaders of sports associations.
“The sports associations need to be realistic about the targets they set and the abilities of each athlete, who may struggle to fulfil what is set when entering competitions and subsequently affect the image of the country,” he said. – Bernama, May 18, 2023
