KUALA LUMPUR – Nine national sports associations have yet to agree to create a separate account for government funding, which will be channeled by the National Sports Council (NSC).
Speaking to Scoop, NSC Deputy Director Jefri Ngadirin confirmed the matter but declined to reveal which associations were involved.
On Wednesday, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh expressed disappointment that some associations are still reluctant to provide detailed financial records, fearing audits by the NSC.
In June, 19 national sports associations signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the NSC as part of an initiative to empower associations through a more efficient funding system.
Under this MoA, funds would be disbursed every four months to cover athlete and coach management, performance monitoring, development programs, and support services.
However, five months later, only 10 associations have followed through, while nine continue to delay.
“Various excuses have been given to us, such as not receiving approval from their Exco members to open a second account or claiming they are still in discussions.
“But I find it puzzling. When these national sports associations receive grants from their respective international federations, they have no issues opening a second account.
“Yet, when the NSC asks for the same thing, all sorts of obstacles appear,” said Jefri.
Jefri noted that if these associations remain non-compliant, they may have to revert to the previous claim-based funding method.
This would mean that, unlike the compliant associations, which receive their funds on schedule, the non-compliant ones would have to pay upfront for international competition expenses and then submit the claims to the NSC for reimbursement post-event, which could result in delays.
Additionally, at the end of this month, most national sports associations will be meeting with the NSC in a Working Committee Meeting to present their plans and funding requirements for 2025.
“In the empowerment outlined in the MoA, we emphasised three main points: the provision of grants, the requirement for national sports associations to open a new account, and mandatory auditing.
“Under this arrangement, associations receive funding in advance for a four-month period, giving them the flexibility to plan programs or send athletes to competitions more effectively. This removes the issue of delayed funding from the NSC.
“However, if they do not comply, we can only fund them on a per-event basis. For example, if they plan to compete in Vietnam, we’ll provide funds specifically for tickets and logistics for that event, and so on for subsequent events, but this process is much slower.
“We won’t audit immediately; audits will only take place after a certain amount of funds has been disbursed. Nonetheless, the NSC is required to conduct annual audits on each association,” he added. – November 8, 2024