KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council (NSC) has assured they will not sideline sports that are on the Podium Programme’s chopping block.
But NSC director general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said it is subject to the financial allocation from the government.
“They (the national sports associations) have mixed feelings because those not affected will have a different perception. However, we cannot just cast aside non-Olympic sports.
“We along with the National Sports Institute and the Sports Ministry have never sidelined any sport which have won us medals whether or not it is part of the Olympics.
“We have been supporting and assisting non-Olympics sports such as squash, silat and sepak takraw and also Olympic sports such as badminton and athletics.
““So, I think NSAs should not be too anxious as the government has always supported sports,” said Shapawi, after the two-day Podium Programme post-mortem workshop on Friday.
On Thursday, Sports Ministry chief secretary Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali hinted that athletes from non-Olympic sports could be axed from the Podium Programme which will be focused on grooming those who can do well at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“We have summarised a couple of things (from the workshop) which will be re-evaluated by the NSAs. They have until Tuesday to give their feedback.
“Once it is done, we will present a report to the Sports Ministry to evaluation,” Shapawi added.