KUALA LUMPUR: Even though Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is keeping the faith with the National Sports Institute (NSI) to carry on with the Podium Programme, such faith and trust by right should only be up to the Asian Games in Indonesia which takes place this coming August.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deputy secretary-general, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi said that the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia which ended on Sunday did not give a clear picture on the rewards and benefits of the Podium Programme.
"For me, the national athletes under the Podium Programme have one more big test coming up, which is the Asian Games. If we were to look take a closer look at the Programme now it would be risky as the Asian Games is just four months away.
"So I do agree with the decision in going with the Podium Programme remaining under National Sports Institute (NSI). However, if our national athletes performance at the Asian Games is less than satisfactory or below par, then we will really have to take a closer look and re-evaluate the Programme, including weighing in the prospect of handing it over the the National Sports Council (NSC).
"Anway, I think that competition at the Asian Games will be stiffer and much tougher compared to the Commonwealth Games,” said Kok Chi earlier today (Thursday).
Kok Chi explained that the Podium Programme is actually a very good programme, though from his observation, one of it’s weaknesses is a lack of specific monitoring on the performance of rival athletes from other countries.
"If there were monitoring and better references as well as observations, I believe the programme will be more successful.
"For example at the Commonwealth Games, I for one did not expect India to be able to win so many gold medals in shooting, and our focus in the sport was only on Australia and England.
"For the Asian Games, I hope we can pay more attention and scrutiny to countries such as Vietnam, Qatar, and even the hosts Indonesia. We cannot just pay attention to countries with known sporting prowess and reputation such as China or Japan,” stressed Kok Chi.
Through an NSTP Sport report yesterday, Khairy had said that there was no need for a review of the Podium Programme or for it to be taken over by NSC after the programme’s athletes failed to shine in Gold Coast.
Earlier, former NSC director-general, Datuk Mazlan Ahmad, who is also known as the ‘architect’ behind the national contingent’s success during the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, had suggested that NSC take over the Podium Programme which is currently under NSI.
This follows the nationa contingent only being able to bring home seven gold medals from Gold Coast – just one more than the six gold haul from the 2014 Glasgow edition – even though preparations this time round were carried out earlier and supposedly better, with a much bigger budget through the Podium Programme since two years ago.