By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, May 27: The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports should have the power to override the standing Malaysian Games (Sukma) quota that limits the number of sports held due to the lower participating number of states.
Sarawak Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah noted that in Sukma, each type of sport must have the involvement of at least eight states.
“I was made to understand that diving, which has brought us a medal in the Olympic Games, has been dropped from the 2022 Sukma Games because the participation is less than eight states.
“This is where I believe that the Ministry of Youth and Sports must have the power to override such matters,” he said in a press conference after officiating at RTM’s ‘Juh Bermukun’ performance held at RTM Kuching’s auditorium today.
He further said that by dropping sports events due to an insufficient number of participating states will affect the sports development industry as a whole.
He also asked the relevant authorities to consider the feelings of the athletes who have been training hard to compete in Sukma.
“For Sukma, if an athlete has exceeded the age of 21, he can no longer participate.
“So if the athlete has to wait another year for Sukma, he might not be able to participate anymore because he has passed the age of 21,” he added.
At the same time, Abdul Karim stressed that there is no issue involving Sarawakian athletes with podium finishes having to quit due to low allowances.
He noted that the Federal Cabinet through the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports has already made a review on additional allocation to be given to the athletes with podium finishes. — DayakDaily
