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KUALA LUMPUR – Despite ongoing efforts to revive the nation’s mass participation sports industry since the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), the Sports Industry Coalition, led by Regional Director of World Endurance Malaysia Sdn Bhd, CG Lim, and Chief Operating Officer of Muse Group Sdn Bhd, Azman Fahmi Osman who represent the respective organisations responsible for the Ironman Malaysia and Spartan Malaysia sporting events along with Khoo Wei Siang from ChampionChip Sports Timers Sdn Bhd, have yet to receive any feedback from the respective authorities.
When contacted by The Vibes, Azman commented that conversations with the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) regarding the resumption of mass participation sports have been thoroughly exhausted and the Coalition have been waiting patiently for the Malaysian National Security Council (MKN) to respond.
“Actually, we are done (having conversations) with KBS and now, we’re just waiting for MKN to allow us to proceed (with the staging of events),” shared Azman. Meanwhile, Lim expressed that, “Currently, we are at status quo as there have been no updates since our last conversation with KBS three weeks ago and we are still waiting to hear back from KBS or MKN.”
However, what has proven to be more frustrating for the Coalition is not the endless wait but the existence of conflicting procedures and practices that have arisen of late with regards to the permissibility of mass participation events throughout the nation.
“At present, we seem to have received conflicting messages from the authorities regarding the allowance of mass participation events in the country, especially in respect to Ramadhan bazaars, night markets and ‘live’ performances; these businesses have been allowed to operate despite their ability to elicit a large crowd, but our nature of business is not permitted, even under the proposed implementation of strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOP),” said Lim.
Moreover, these small businesses are not the only ones who have been given the green light to resume operations.
Recreational sports have also been allowed by the authorities and according to Azman, other mass participation events, such as the Piloton Cycling Fleet (PCF) team time-trials, have taken place at the Sepang International Circuit.
“There are events, similar to ours, that are being held, so why aren’t we allowed to do the same? Basically, to no fault of our own, we are left utterly confused and frustrated”, Azman told The Vibes.
As they sit and wait for some good news to arrive, the Sports Industry Coalition is starting to get restless, given that mass participation events are being successfully organised and held in neighbouring countries, the latest being the Ho Chi Minh City Marathon with 12,000 participants – making it the biggest mass run in Southeast Asia to date.
“We are still hoping for the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to reach out and help us. In my opinion, I believe we’re in this predicament because the right questions are not being asked hence why we have sought the help of the media to bring our case to light,” said Lim.
As everyone involved in the process of staging these mass participation events is struggling, including the organisers, the Sports Industry Coalition still hopes that the day these events can be staged once more will happen sooner than later.
“We hope to open the door for (such) events to happen and get the ball rolling so we can all learn to upgrade standards and initiate better practices along the way,” said Lim -The Vibes, 14 April, 2021
