MR WON’T PROTEST

National body accept sport ministry’s ‘new deal’

WHILE the impending budget cuts and restructuring by the Sports Ministry have drawn protests from many national sports associations (NSAs), not all are up in arms.

Malaysia Rugby (MR) secretary Jamaluddin Salim believes his sport will get a fair deal under the ministry’s new tiered support structure.

Jamaluddin said the new key performance indicator (KPI) for all the preparation-cum-exposure tournaments is reasonable.

Under the new structure, MR have been placed under Tier Three, which is for individual athletes or team sports that have won gold at the Sea Games.

"I can't comment for all the sports but for rugby I feel it is good," said Jamaluddin.

"As we have won gold at the Sea Games last year, we will be in Tier Three, and we hope to have 16 players in the sevens programme.

"This new system is more focused and gives us a clear target to achieve.

“We will be required to achieve a KPI for all the tournaments we compete in as part of our preparations for the Sea Games.

"Previously, the National Sports Council did not require NSAs to meet KPIs for exposure or preparation tournaments.

“Some NSAs are unhappy about this (KPI) but I think it is only fair to have a KPI as we are competing with funds from NSC.

"The NSAs also have to do their part to secure sponsorship from the private sector and not depend completely on the government for funding."

Jamaluddin said rugby is not affected by the discontinuation of the State High Performance Sports Unit (USPTN) programme which had focused on developing talent at state level.

"For rugby, salaries of coaches at state level are covered by their respective states, so this does not affect us."

Tier One is for athletes who have potential to win a medal at the Olympics while Tier Two is for those with potential of winning medals at Asian and Commonwealth Games.

Tier Four covers athletes who compete in world championships that are not part of the first three tiers. The lower the tier, the less support an athlete will receive.

Some NSAs are unhappy about this (KPI) but I think it is only fair to have a KPI as we are competing with funds from NSC.

MR Secretary