KUALA LUMPUR – Due to a lack of available venues, the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) had to give up the rights to hold the 15th Southeast Asian (SEA) Youth Athletics Championships to Thailand this year.
MAF president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim highlighted a significant challenge faced by the association, citing a major obstacle in securing suitable venues for hosting the championships, including the unavailability of the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
He said the association tried to shift the venue to other states but their stadiums are either under renovation or unavailable as well.
“Because of this we had to pull out as hosts and hand the rights to Thailand and they have graciously agreed to take on the responsibility.
“Next year we will take on the responsibility of hosting the championships,” said Shahidan at a press conference after MAF’s Annual General Meeting today.
The Arau MP added that the National Stadium is a private venue and has to focus on activities that generate revenue.
“We have to accept that this is the problem that happens when you privatise a stadium. If you don’t, the government would have to bear the huge costs of maintaining it.
“But when you privatise it, they will focus on other revenue-generating activities.
“Associations like us are not free to hold our events there as we will need to work with their availability,” said Shahidan, who is also the chairman of development for SEA Youths Athletic Championships.
He added that having to match the dates to the international calendar also adds to the complexity of hosting an international meet like the SEA Youths Championships.
“I will bring this matter up about the pros and cons of privatisation of the stadium.
“It would be better to prioritise the hosting of international competitions like this.
“We are sports volunteers, so when we want to hold a tournament like this we hope that we would be supported by having facilities available to us.
“But I don’t want to cause too much of a fuss. When we found out the National Stadium was not available, I tried looking elsewhere but couldn’t find an available venue,” he said.
Meanwhile, MAF is sending a huge contingent consisting of 44 athletes – 25 male and 19 female – to Bangkok to compete in the SEA Youth Championships.
A total of 10 officials and coaches will accompany them.
They have been selected based on their performance at the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) Athletics Championships, which was held on October 15-19. – November 24, 2023