SUBANG JAYA – In a bid to offer more substantial support to national sports associations (NSAs) and individuals representing Malaysia in global competitions, the Youth and Sports Ministry has announced plans to re-evaluate its funding structure for the upcoming year.
This decision follows the recent success of national dancesport athlete Cherry Yeo Xiao Wei, who secured an impressive trio of gold medals at the Mallorca Dance Festival in Calvia, Spain.
The Malaysian contingent, consisting of 10 athletes and three coaches, entirely self funded their participation in the event.
Malaysia Dancesport Federation sports director Chua Zjen Fong recently told Scoop that despite having applied for funding from the ministry before the competition, there was no response.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, when asked about the matter, said: “(The ministry) receives lots of requests for athletes before they leave for international competitions abroad.
“But some of them are not national athletes, sometimes they are competing at club or state level.
“That is why the mechanism that the ministry practices is to reimburse the NSAs or athletes if there is success at the international level,” she said after the opening ceremony of the Asean Women in Sports Conference here today.
Hannah also acknowledged the need for a comprehensive review of the funding structure to better accommodate not only NSAs but also individuals, particularly youth athletes representing the country.
With an increasing number of world championships and achievements, Yeoh emphasised the necessity of improving the support delivery structure to ensure that athletes and associations receive the assistance they require.
“There is a need for us to review the funding structure for next year. This is so we can better support not only NSAs but also individuals, especially youths who are representing the country.
“Because there are a lot of world championships, I myself can’t keep up. I get calls all the time from individuals and NSAs who want me to meet them at the airport after winning an international title.
“I’m happy that many are winning and making the country proud, it is a good problem. It is just that we need to improve the structure of how the support is delivered to them,” she said. – November 14, 2023