KUALA LUMPUR: The Sports Ministry's new multi-tiered support system for athletes needs to be further fine tuned as it could potentially leave world class athletes in non-Olympic sports with no backing.
Bowling and squash are among the sports which are likely to be affected by this new system in which cost cutting is a key objective. The lower the tier, the less support an athlete receives.
Under the new system, athletes with the potential to win Olympic medals are under tier one. Athletes who have won medals at the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games are in tier two while tier three is for athletes who have won Sea Games gold medals.
Tier four is for athletes who compete in world championships that do not fall within the first three categories.
Malaysia Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary general Maradona Chok said the system is unfair to their bowlers.
"There is no chance (for bowlers) to be in tier one. We do not think this is fair because world champions are Olympic level athletes too," said Maradona.
"Don't tell me that a world champion (bowler) has to be in tier three or tier four just because he or she does not have a medal from a multi-sport games.
"Our bowlers have not been confirmed yet in which tier they will be in. We roughly know but we will be appealing."
MTBC have produced numerous world champions in the sport over the past decade.
Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) president Nik Razeen Daud echoed Maradona's sentiments.
"It's fine to have a tiered system but you have to understand that world champions, be it in cycling, weightlifting and so on, will also be competing in the Olympics. The world championships is the same level as the Olympics," said Razeen.
"What happens to sports who have world champions but are not in the Olympics? Are you going to dump them in tier two, three and four?
"That is very unfair. What about people like Nicol David? She has served the country so well over the years and has set records which are not going to be broken anytime soon.
"What are they going to do (about her)? She is still in the top 10 (rankings)."
Maradona hopes that the Sports Ministry will take into consideration the views of National Sports Associations (NSAs) before making drastic changes in the future.
"All these changes have been decided without the knowledge of NSAs. We were never asked for our opinions.
"It's all a bit one sided, I believe NSAs should have a say."
Previously the Podium Programme, introduced by former Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, had also included non-Olympic sports such as bowling, squash and sepak takraw.