Allowance cut may affect M’sia’s SEA Games achievement: chef de mission

KUALA LUMPUR − The chef de mission (CDM) of the Malaysian contingent to the Hanoi SEA Games, Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, is worried that the drastic reduction in training allowances for athletes this year could risk affecting the country’s achievement at the biennial games in May.

Nur Azmi, who considers it unfair to make such large cuts that ‘put pressure’ on associations and athletes, has appealed to the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Youth and Sports Ministry to re-evaluate the adjustment of the allowance.

He said the government could also look at restoring the concept of ‘sports partnerships’ (rakan sukan) by asking government-linked companies (GLCs) to ‘adopt’ national sports associations (NSAs) as not all NSAs were rich and able to generate income.

“If the GLCs can give a million (ringgit) to each association, it is good enough and it does not burden the government. There are NSAs that are rich because their president holds high office but that’s not the case with others,” he said.

According to Nur Azmi, who is also the vice president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), several NSAs have already contacted him to voice their concerns and complain about the matter. 

“Allowances are cut so much for full-time athletes, who have no other income. We don’t want to lose many athletes, who may quit or retire early because they feel pressured to focus on their studies and careers.

“We do agree to cuts in allowances but not to such a big extent because the athletes have made sacrifices, put in energy and effort to raise the country’s profile. We are envious of other countries that have won Olympic gold and world championships yet we do not take care of the welfare of our sports (athletes),” he said.

“If the athletes are under stress, (and we) still persist with sending them to the competition, there may not be a (desired) result,” Nur Azmi, who is also Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) secretary-general, told reporters after Makaf’s extraordinary general meeting at Wisma OCM yesterday.

Meanwhile, he said during the recent meeting of the OCM selection committee, a total of 180 athletes were eligible to compete in Category A (all costs borne) at the SEA Games from May 12-25 but the selection of athletes would only be done after the Chinese New Year festivities.

On Wednesday, the NSC announced the restructuring of allowances for athletes following the current state of the country’s economy, which has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the recent flood disaster. 

It will see SEA Games and Asean Para Games gold medallists receive an allowance of RM2,000 while silver and bronze medallists will receive RM800.

Senior athletes in the programme, who have not won any medals, will receive RM800 while back-up athletes will get RM500.

Meanwhile, training allowances for athletes who have won Asian Games/Para Asian and Commonwealth Games medals will remain the same − with the gold medallists receiving RM4,500 followed by RM4,000 (silver) and RM3,500 (bronze) while RM7,500 will be given to the winner of an Olympic/Paralympic Games gold medal followed by RM7,000 (silver) and RM6,000 (bronze). – Bernama, January 9, 2022