KUCHING, March 26: Sarawak concurs with and will abide by the decision of the Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) Supreme Committee to postpone the Malaysia Games (Sukma 2020) which was scheduled to be held in Johor from July 11-19 this year.
Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan made these remarks today in response to an announcement of the decision by the said committee after a meeting via video conferencing by Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.
Snowdan noted the Convid-19 pandemic is accelerating worldwide and the Malaysian experience has been no exception.
“Taking into account a probable second wave of Convid-19, year 2021 (to hold the games) is probably worth considering. This is a matter of life and death and we had better be safe than sorry,” said Snowdan.
He aded there is no harm to delay Sukma until 2021 due to causes beyond control.
“This will give more time for the country to contain the pandemic. Tokyo Olympics and the Paralympics 2020 have also been postponed, as too Euro 2020.
“If these world major sporting events are postponed, Sukma shall [follow suit] and not be an exception in the face of this global pandemic,” Snowdan stressed.
He added the health, safety and wellbeing of about 30,000 athletes, officials, media, coaches, volunteers and business associates nationwide is the main concern.
“For now, preserving human life is our utmost priority, while sports take the queue.
“We definitely would not want to endanger the lives of 837 young athletes, our coaches, volunteers and officials if we have an option for them to be safe, more so that we do not want them to be carriers, putting more in jeopardy,” Snowdan added. — DayakDaily
