PROFESSIONAL athletes, especially badminton players, are finding it hard to sustain their careers under the prolonged Movement Control Order (MCO).
Not only are their coffers running dry with each passing day, but the athletes are also losing out on opportunities to improve their world ranking, which is crucial for their participation in major events.
Most professional athletes depend on sponsorship contracts, prize money and product and service endorsements to sustain and earn a living.
With tournaments either cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many professional athletes will see their contracts run out at the end of the season.
The renewal of contracts is dependent on their performances, which is now impossible to gauge, although sports organisations have released revised tournament calendars.
Furthermore, professional players are finding it difficult to go abroad and play in tournaments due to the strict Covid-19 protocols, which can be time consuming and expensive.
Former Singapore Open mixed doubles champions, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai are worried about the long-term consequences.
"It is not easy. With each passing day, our worries grow more and more. We want to continue playing and representing Malaysia, but if this MCO prolongs, it will become more difficult.
"For some of us, we still have our sponsors, but even that is affected.
"As professionals, we have to be prudent with our finances. Everything is on us," lamented Shevon, who has not trained on court since the All England in March.
Like Shevon and Soon Huat, many other independent players are on the brink of calling it a day due to the high cost of sustaining their passion for the sport.
It is understood that a player spends about RM5,000 a month just on coaching and medical expertise.
That is excluding tournament fees, flight, accommodation and food.
And with tournaments like the Super 300 Taiwan Open getting cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sponsors are also cutting back.
"We also want to play in the World Championships and represent Malaysia at major events like the Asian Games and other events, but how are we going to do that if we can't improve on our ranking?
"When we don't go out, sponsorship will surely be affected.
"Yes, we are considering relocating to another state to train, but that's an additional cost.
"We can only pray and hope for this pandemic to be over soon," added Shevon, who was looking forward to the Taiwan Open on Aug 30-Sep 6 before it got cancelled recently.
The World 13 will likely play in the Denmark Open and French Open in October.
For now, several independent players, including Rio Olympics silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, are under the care of former national coach Chin Eei Hui.
Before the full lockdown, they had been training at Endah Parade's Pioneer Badminton Centre in Sri Petaling.