KUALA LUMPUR – Some of the world’s largest sports teams are easily associated with a specific country.
The top-ranked national cricket team belongs to India, the current top national football team is Brazil, and the All Blacks is globally recognised as an excellent rugby team from New Zealand.
While these countries have taken sports as part of their national identity, Malaysia still has a long way to go in making sports a national brand.
Speaking to The Vibes, Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said this is because sports have often come last on the list in the country’s development.
He cited an example whereby sports has been “the first one to get a big budget cut,” especially when the yearly budget is tabled in the Parliament.
“But for us, sports is always the last (in the list) and the first to get a big budget cut.
“A lot of other countries have excelled in sports because they take sports seriously. It is like building a hospital or a school,” he told The Vibes.
The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president added that the biggest issue in relation to the country’s sports industry would be the inadequate attention given to its development.
“We always talk about being world champions, but we do not have what it needs to help us be world champions.”
Subahan opined that any sports associations require funding in order to do well, adding that the success of Malaysia’s top football club Johor Darul Ta’zim FC was the quintessence of strong financial backing.
He explained that Malaysia has many untapped talents, but without funding, sports associations would not be able to run programmes to help potential athletes thrive.
“Sports associations in this country, if you have a president who has the means to look for money or use his own money, then they are okay.
“But if you have a leader who is knowledgeable, who has got what it takes to lead the association but does not have the means and funds, then they are in trouble.
“It should be a level-playing field.”
Subahan, who is also the PJ City FC president, suggested the new government elected after the 15th general election to create a sports development fund to which conglomerates could contribute.
Additionally, he recommended that the contribution be included in a government policy where those companies would be able to enjoy “certain tax privileges” in return.
“Why can we not have a policy where every big conglomerate or business organisation is obligated to contribute a certain amount into a sports development fund?
“It can be monitored with due diligent and proper governance.
‘Sports is a tool for unity – MFL CEO Stuart Ramalingam’
Echoing Subahan’s sentiment, Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam agreed that sports has often been overlooked by the government.
He said that sports – most of the time – is seen as a recreational activity and a tool of health, but not as a vital instrument in uniting people of all levels of society.
“Besides an industry, sports should be seen as an avenue to break the religious, political as well as cultural divide. Sports, a tool of unity, needs to be given priority,” he said.
“When you see our athletes bear the Malaysian flag whenever they compete in a tournament, like Lee Chong Wei playing badminton, or a football or hockey getting into action, it does not matter whether you are a Malay, Chinese, or Indian or whichever political party you belong to, you support the game no matter what.
“We hope the new (youth and sports) minister would put sports forward and make it a focal point in the industry and look at policy change to support the growth of the industry.”
Stuart, in the meantime, also praised previous sports ministers who helped the industry survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the government had done what it could during the trying time to help the Malaysian football industry stay afloat following cancelled leagues for almost two years. – The Vibes, November 16, 2022
