THE Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) is looking to introduce a code of conduct for athletes in the future.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said the code could include guidelines for athletes on responsible social media use, especially during major events like the Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Based on the post-mortem session of the 2024 Olympic Games and 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, Hannah pointed out an example from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), which had advised its shuttlers to refrain from using social media to ensure they remained fully focused on the competition.
“We are not able to roll that out to independent players but for BAM players, yes, we did. There are other athletes that are very active on social media uploading walking out the streets and hanging out when they are supposed to be practising.
“But this is the world of social media, You cannot really say you cannot post….but this is where I think when you have the body of experts here, we want to look into setting up a code of conduct for athletes,” she told a press conference here today.
The post-mortem session for both Games today was attended by representatives from the National Sports Council (NSC), ISN, Ministry of Finance, the Olympic Council of Malaysia, the Paralympic Council of Malaysia, as well as experts from Nippon Sports Science University, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris to provide additional insights.
Hannah said it was now time for greater discipline and professionalism from athletes representing the country.
“I think, as far as this government is concerned, we have given a lot to our athletes, especially the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and Road To Gold (programme), anything (they need),” she said.
In developing the code of conduct, she said that it would be important to consider feedback from current and former athletes and to consult experts on how similar codes are implemented overseas.
