KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Games (Sukma) Supreme Committee has decided to rotate the hosting of the biennial games between the National Sports Council (NSC) and the states.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the rationale behind the rotation system is to reduce the federal government’s burden to provide financial assistance to the states, which host the games.
“This includes the cost of constructing and upgrading sports infrastructure, organising, and financing athlete preparation programmes at the state level,” she said after the Sukma Supreme Committee Special Meeting today.
Meanwhile, Sarawak has been selected to host the 21st edition of the Sukma next year, while the 2026 games will be taken over by NSC, followed by Kelantan in 2028.
“This will give Kelantan adequate time for preparation as it will be their first time hosting the games.”
At the same time, Hannah said that the sports that will be included in Sarawak next year are aquatics, weightlifting, badminton, cycling, gymnastics, gold, fencing, archery, shooting, athletics, sailing, hockey, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, karate, lawn bowling, pencak silat, sepak takraw, squash, tenpin bowling, wushu, football, rugby, netball, basketball, volleyball, and tennis.
“We are also giving Sarawak the choice of boxing, muay thai, petanque, and esports. These sports will be subjected to the minimum requirement of participants from at least six states,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is happy about hosting Sukma next year.
“We will work hard to ensure that Sukma is well organised,” he said.
It was understood that Kelantan was initially selected to host the 2012 games but due to its lack of sports facilities, the responsibility was given to Pahang.
NSC Director-General Datuk Ahmad Shapawi added that Johor has informed that it will be unable to host the Sukma games anytime soon as it needs time to recover from the pandemic. – The Vibes, March 16, 2023
