KUALA LUMPUR – State associations should not be blamed, instead, national sports governing bodies are responsible for the cancellation of several Malaysian Games (Sukma) events, said Perak Athletics Association (Perak AA) president Datuk Karim Ibrahim.
He said this in response to 11 diving as well as track and field that could be scrapped due to poor participation from the states.
Although National Sports Council director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail has said that some events could be held after all, Karim said it is still bodies like NSC that are responsible for the issue in the first place
Shapawi said the women’s diving and women’s 10,000m walking events would still be dropped as per the initial list of events, but others may be able to proceed following a discussion with state sports council directors yesterday.
He said the final decision on the number of contested events will only be announced later after deliberation by the Sukma Supreme Committee chairman, who is Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
However, Karim told The Vibes that national governing bodies such as the National Sports Council (NSC) have turned Sukma into a failure by not laying down good development plans for young athletes.
“You cannot just blame states. The government controls the finances, and a bulk of the money is spent by the NSC for the last two decades on development programmes.
“But where are the results if there are still events without enough participants? States do not get enough funding to train for every event.”
Karim added that things are done on an ad hoc basis and athletes are suffering from the poor decisions made by those in charge.
He said NSC’s solution to have national-level competitions for athletes who are forced to sit out the Sukma is not fair as they would be missing out on monetary incentives given by the states to gold medallists.
Meanwhile, Karim said the new Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) management should not be blamed for the failure but instead the previous board is responsible.
“Before Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim became MAF president, Datuk S.M. Muthu held the position and spent huge amounts of money. But where are the results?
With big blunders like these, athletics and all those involved in it are the losers.
“Athletes become demoralised, and once the parents get frustrated and stop sending their children for training, it is going to be a big problem.” – The Vibes, August 21, 2022
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