KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry will review the list of core sports after the success of national athletes in some sports at the recently concluded SEA Games in Cambodia.
This is due to the spectacular performance of martial artists, who contributed 14 gold medals to Malaysia’s tally of 34 at the SEA Games.
Karate contributed four gold, kickboxing (1), silat (4), taekwondo (3) and wushu (2).
“Sepak takraw has also made the same request.
“The latest development is that we have amended the Sports Development Act to gazette and included 103 total sports.
“Change will always happen as new sports are emerging and if we don’t relook at the core sports, we will be left behind.
“We need to revisit this to ensure that we are moving in the right direction,” minister Hannah Yeoh said after officiating the National Martial Arts Championships at Stadium Titiwangsa here today.
Earlier, the ministry said it is looking to reinstate sepak takraw as a core sport following players’ achievements at the Cambodia SEA Games.
Yeoh said one of the main factors preventing the reinstatement of sepak takraw as a core sport is budget constraints.
Sepak takraw was one of the sports dropped by the National Sports Council from the list of core sports in 2017 due to declining performance of its athletes.
In Cambodia, the national sepak takraw team ended their campaign with four silver medals in the team regu, inter-regu, doubles and chinlone (same stroke) and two bronze medals in chinlone (non-repetition and linking).
Yeoh added that new sports that are popular with grassroots will also be given a chance to be listed as a core sport. – The Vibes, May 21, 2023