National Sports Council Denies Allegation Of Athletes Allowance Cut

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The National Sports Council has denied an allegation of athletes' training allowance cut as claimed by former deputy youth and sports minister Steven Sim and a state coach.
Its director-general Ahmad Shapawi Ismail (above) explained that the council offered a contract extension to the athletes who were eligible for full training under the podium programme in January.
“Back then, there were proposals to reduce the athletes' allowance due to a lack of specific funding for that purpose.
“However, as a result of initiatives taken by minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu together with the support of his colleagues, the cabinet agreed to reinstate the RM60 million annual allocation to fund the podium programme.
"Following this, the full amount of training allowances had been allocated to the sports council in mid-January and all the athletes immediately obtained the allowances according to their respective qualifications," he said in a statement today.
He was responding to a Malaysiakini report on reduced athletes' allowance as admitted by former sprinter Watson Nyambek after the issue raised by Sim.
Watson said a lack of exposure to international competitions among athletes during the pandemic is among the factors contributing to the Malaysian contingent's unsatisfactory performance in the recently concluded South East Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Watson, now a coach with the Sarawak Sports Council, conceded it was a factor that contributed to the reduced performance.
‘Be more transparent’
The council said it has contacted the coach following the report and Watson admitted he was not clear about the issue of allowance cut.
"The element of lack of exposure to competitions abroad for national athletes prior to SEA Games 2022 in Vietnam is acknowledged and addressed as we analyse the performance of our contingent on May 22.
"It is not due to the financial constraint. On the contrary, plenty of tournaments were not held or cancelled by the host countries due to control measures taken to curb Covid-19 since March 2020.
"At the same time, the reduced athletes' allowance allegation raised by Sim and Watson was not really accurate and needs to be clarified," said Shapawi.
In an immediate response, Sim told Malaysiakini that the sports council should be more transparent by showing the allowance and performance reports.
"Let the council and the ministry explain. Perhaps it will be more transparent if the minister shows the allowance report and the performance report, particular the allowance received by each athlete and whose allowance was terminated," he said.
The SEA Games gold medallists are entitled to a monthly training allowance of RM2,000, followed by RM1,500 for silver medallists and RM1,000 for bronze medallists, according to the council.
As for Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, medallists will be entitled to a monthly allowance of RM4,500 (gold), RM4,000 (silver) and RM3,500 (bronze).
Meanwhile, Olympic Games medallists will receive RM7,500 (gold), RM7,000 (silver) and RM6,500 (bronze). - Mkini

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