KUALA LUMPUR – With Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announcing the allocation of RM230 million for sports development during last month’s Supply Bill, it is now up to the Youth and Sports Ministry and the National Sports Council (NSC) to decide ‘who gets what.’
However, NSC Deputy Director Jefri Ngadirin has assured national sports associations (NSA) that delivered strong performances at the recent SEA Games and Asian Games are poised to receive increased funding to continue their success at the upcoming SEA Games in Thailand.
At the same time, Jefri said the Working Committee Meeting with national sports associations is set to take place at the end of this month.
The meeting will serve as a deciding factor in determining the funds these associations will receive to navigate the 2025 sports calendar, with a primary focus on the SEA Games in Thailand scheduled for the end of next year.
“Of course, we will evaluate based on performance, and we cannot simply approve requests from sports associations without careful consideration.
“We will hold a workshop on November 13, focusing on the sports to be contested at the SEA Games in Thailand.
“We want to identify the sports that have the potential to deliver gold medals for us. With this in mind, sports with high potential will be allocated a larger budget,” Jefri told Scoop.
Based on the medal tally at last year’s Cambodia SEA Games, combat sports such as karate (4 gold medals), pencak silat (4 gold medals), and taekwondo (3 gold medals) were among the standout contributors of gold medals.
Karate can also take pride in its achievements, having secured one gold and two silver medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October. Meanwhile, squash emerged as the biggest contributor at the Asian Games, winning three gold medals.
This amount of RM230 million includes funding for the Podium programme, athletes’ training, the Road to Gold initiative, preparations for para athletes ahead of the World Para Games and the Deaflympics Tokyo 2025, as well as maintenance and repair works for youth and sports facilities nationwide.
The budget also covers matching grants to encourage sports competitions organised by associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Thus, given the limited budget, which must be shared across various programs, the NSC carefully assesses each sports association’s request before approving any funding applications.
“Sports associations may ask for the moon and the stars, but we must carefully review each request.
“For instance, if an association requests RM 4 or RM 5 million and is optimistic about securing five gold medals at the SEA Games, they will need to provide us with a detailed plan.
“We will also conduct our own calculations to determine whether they can meet that target or not,” he added. – November 9, 2024