Only national judo athletes listed by the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) who are participating in the Sea Games will be given an allocation, the National Sports Council (NSC) said.
"For each Sea Games, the NSC will channel an allocation to the national sports association to fund the participation in the games after their athletes are listed by the OCM to participate in the games," NSC told Malaysiakini through a spokesperson from its Corporate Communications Unit.
This came after Leo Chong Wei Fu (above) said the national judo team lost its funding for training after he failed to secure a gold medal in the men's judo competition in the 2017 Sea Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Chong himself participated in the 2019 Sea Games in the Philippines without any allowance from the government, forcing him to seek sponsors and use his savings.
The 28-year-old athlete set his sights on the 2022 Sea Games in Vietnam and is forced to work as an insurance agent and part-time judo trainer to make ends meet.
“Judo is not listed on the list of core sports, which are selected based on several factors, namely outstanding performance record; capability of the national sports organisation or association as well as compulsory sports in international events,” the NSC spokesperson said.
'NSC has little interest in judo'
A core sport is also seen as a popular sport participated by people from various walks of life and the sports facilities can be enjoyed by various sections of society, he said.
“The NSC previously rendered its support to judo until 2011, but no gold medal was won in the Sea Games. Even the national judo team was given several opportunities, including sending the team for training in Mongolia, but the results remained unchanged,” he added.
In an interview with the news portal, Chong said the NSC has little interest in judo because it is considered a non-popular sport.
As a result of this, the national judo team is unable to sign a long-term training contract with the NSC.
Without a contract, judo exponents do represent Malaysia in international tournaments but unlike other athletes, they do not have access to resources such as allowances or overseas training.
This situation, Chong said, made it difficult for the athletes to be fully committed.
Furthermore, without a training contract, these athletes do not have access to NSC's training venues and gym facilities.
After the Youth and Sports Ministry's funding was reduced in the 2022 budget, NSC terminated around 200 national athletes from their training programme, leaving them in a financial conundrum without any allowance. - Mkini
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