KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Youth and Sports has reintroduced the disbursement of allocations through the empowerment method to 19 National Sports Associations (PSK), covering 23 types of sports disciplines for the Podium and National Backup programmes.
Minister Hannah Yeoh said the selected PSK need to comply with several conditions set by the ministry, such as establishing a special account for receiving funds from the National Sports Council (NSC) and allowing the account to be audited by auditors appointed by NSC.
Hannah said the method, implemented through the MADANI Government budget, is based on the concept of accountability and responsibility of the PSK.
“This empowerment method began in June this year, where financial allocations will be disbursed based on training plans agreed upon by the NSC and PSK,” she told reporters after attending the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between NSC and PSK in Bukit Jalil today.
She said for this year, disbursements will be made in two phases - from June to August and September to December.
Hannah said the allocation for each PSK varies according to their needs, which will be determined by the NSC committee based on the competitions agreed upon.
She also expressed hope that the PSK would comply with the financial regulations set by NSC and spend based on the approvals of the Sports Working Committee meetings.
“Before this method was implemented, it was in the form of claims, which sometimes led to late submissions and reimbursements, and it couldn’t roll over. The new method helps with savings as it allows for earlier planning.
“For other PSK, we will implement this in the next phase,” she said.
Hannah hopes this effort will have a positive impact on the development of national sports and produce more high-performing athletes to represent Malaysia on the international stage.
Meanwhile, Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the governing body would work with NSC to provide education on the use of special accounts to enhance the governance of PSK.
“This method is important for governance. Previously, in the association’s accounts, it was mixed. For example, in BAM, maybe NSC’s assistance was 10-15 per cent of the total amount.
“But there are other sponsorships, and in terms of jurisdiction, NSC needs to know its authority. Whether its funds are being used properly or not,” he said.
Among the selected PSK are the Malaysian Athletics Union, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Malaysian Swimming Federation and Malaysian Hockey Confederation.
It is understood that such a disbursement method was previously implemented by NSC for PSK in 2017 but was discontinued in 2019 due to financial issues faced by NSC.
