KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) won’t throw their dumbells and barbells in a rage.
The national body are staying calm as they have yet to receive confirmation on weightlifting being dropped from the National Sports Council’s (NSC) core sports programme.
MWF president Datuk Ong Poh Eng said they will make an appeal to the sports ministry when they receive official word of their exclusion.
“We have not received anything in black and white yet. But if it is confirmed, we will definitely appeal and if it’s because of one person it’s not fair, is it?” said Ong.
MWF acting secretary Abu Hanapiah Ismail said the federation will call for a meeting on the issue.
“If weightlifting is dropped, it’s going to cause a chain reaction because it involves other states as well and we would automatically lose out on many things (funding).”
Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the decision to drop three sports — weightlifting, taekwondo and sepaktakraw — from the NSC core sport programme was due to a decline in performance, doping issues and internal problems.