KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi vowed, as home minister, that the police force would fight sports bookies to the very end.
He said the presence of bookies was a bane to the nation in its efforts to find sporting excellence.
Zahid said the fight against such criminals was in line with the country’s wishes of having a fair sporting arena, not just for the athletes but for the fans.
“Sports have often been sullied by things that, as the saying goes, kerana nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga (a bad apple spoils the whole bunch). I promise myself that the police force will be at the forefront (in the fight) against match-fixing, especially against the bookies who line their own pockets,” he said when opening the Sportswrriters Association of Malaysia-100Plus Awards 2017.
Over the years, the nation’s sporting world had been rocked by allegations of match-fixing, with the latest being two professional badminton players who are now under investigation by the Badminton World Federation.
Meanwhile, Zahid said the country’s athletes were working diligently to gain success in their respective fields.
“Champions are not born... expertise comes with continuous training. So, training needs to be planned in a structured manner and I believe the Youth and Sports Ministry will allocate even more (in the years to come), because sports is not just for fun,” he said.