KUALA LUMPUR — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) will announce the new Road to Gold (RTG) project committee next year to align with the next Olympic cycle.
It added that the RTG and Fast Track support programmes for athletes will continue as usual.
“(Youth and Sports Minister) Hannah Yeoh has expressed her gratitude to the (previous) committee for their commitment and backing to ensuring the programme provided the best support to athletes under their care,” KBS said in a statement today.
The RTG programme, established in April last year, was also hailed by the athletes and coaches because of the comprehensive support provided throughout the preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Coaches and athletes have asked that this programme be continued until LA2028 (2028 Los Angeles Olympics) for them to prepare in the best possible way and the RTG has been allocated RM10 million funding through Budget 2025 recently.
“National badminton coaching director Rexy Mainaky and national track cycling coach John Beasley have both said that the RTG programme proved extremely useful for their athletes and want it to be continued for the benefit of Malaysian sports,” it added.
On Wednesday, the RTG Committee convened for the final time this year to close its accounts for the current Olympic cycle.
It was jointly chaired by Hannah and Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
For the record, the RTG accounts for 2023 were audited by the National Audit Department as part of the National Sports Council’s (NSC) 2023 financial statement, with the financial report declared to be in good order.
RTG’s audited expenditure for 2023 totalled RM4.083 million, while the 2024 expenditure is projected at RM13.2 million, as stated in Parliament on November 7.
“This expenditure will also be audited by the National Audit Department after the year ends,” it added. — November 22, 2024