Focus only put on 2024 Games but no concrete plans for future of sports

PETALING JAYA: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu (pix) seems to be going backwards where the future direction of sports is concerned, two former sports administrators said.

“He may appear to be doing something new, but he isn’t,” said former National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong.

Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, former ecretary-general of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, believes the minister is more interested in the coming Olympic Games.

“We’ve done well in previous Olympics, even if the medals we’ve won weren’t gold. But what concrete plans does he have for the future?” said Sieh.

Ahmad Faizal recently unveiled three agendas to prepare a national delegation for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Overall, the plan includes a reassessment of the Road to Tokyo (RTT) programme that began in 2019, the launching of the Olympics and Paralympics special programmes and greater participation of sports associations involved in talent identification at all levels.

Zolkples questioned the reasons for Ahmad Faizal to form a committee to study the proposal or evaluation of the overall implementation of the RTT programme which will be led by Datuk M Noor Azman Taib, secretary-general of the Youth and Sports Ministry as well as a National Sports Council (NSC) board member.

“Why burden Azman? The minister should instead study the reasons for the establishment of NSC,“ he said.

He added that there must be a large talent pool. “Although our small population puts us at a disadvantage, we still generate many world-class athletes.”

The minister should instead study the reasons for the establishment of NSC.

“NSC is a statutory body that was created to make it easier to receive money and donations, which a full government agency could not do without going through many formalities. That makes it is easier for NSC to implement programmes.

“Our country’s current problem is that we are too ashamed to reveal our disabled children. Parents do not want their children’s disabilities to be known. This was an issue I faced previously.

“I’m confident that there are many talented disabled people in our country.”

He added that during his term as director-general, a number of programmes with focus on preparing para athletes for international competitions were launched.

“The minister’s announcement of three new sports agendas is nothing new, and they should just run programmes for the athletes,” Zolkples added.

Sieh said that the minister is aware that the majority of athletes competing were aged over 25.

“We’ve been plucking all the fruits from the same trees for the last 20 years, and now they’re worried about whether the fruits will be replaced? Is it possible that the trees will be replaced? Should they keep plucking, or should they stop? I believe they should continue plucking from the trees for another two Olympic Games, but what plans do they have for the future?”

He said this will lead to the most crucial question for sports organisations.

“What do we want? Do we want Malaysia to be a great sporting nation that regularly competes in all events, or do we just want to win a few medals at the Olympics?

“So, I believe we are uncertain about what we want. We are now focused on A, B, C, and D sports (archery, badminton, cycling and diving). We are pretty clever in that sense as many nations do not invest heavily in these four sports.

“We know we don’t have a chance in football or rugby and diving is a highly exclusive sport that only a few nations participate in, and it is so subjective that many countries don’t want to invest money in a sport that they would lose.”