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Sports Ministry to address issues causing dearth of tournaments

KUALA LUMPUR: National athletes have complained that they have not had enough opportunities to compete in domestic competitions which has subsequently affected their national rankings.

The athletes made their grouses known during a recent town hall session with new Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

Hannah attended four separate town hall sessions with able-bodied athletes, para athletes, national sports associations (NSA) as well as para sports associations.

A total of 320 national athletes and 150 NSAs had joined the sessions.

"The athletes complained that they could not improve their national rankings due to the lack of domestic exposure (competitions). We will look into the matter," said Hannah.

"The NSAs said that they could not afford to organise domestic competitions because of the financial woes they are facing.

"They can't afford to pay for the rental of facilities and venues which are expensive and are finding it hard to get sponsors.

"NSAs also have to go through many channels to book stadiums and other facilities. This is a hassle for them.

"We will try to talk to the stadium (venue) owners to reduce their rentals but it will only be for a certain amount as they also have maintenance costs to think of."

Hannah was speaking after officiating the Kuala Lumpur Lawn Bowls Open Fours Championships which started at the Bukit Kiara Sports Complex today.

She disclosed that the Sports Ministry helped reduce the burden faced by Kuala Lumpur Lawn Bowls Association by paying RM20,000 for rental and also providing free accommodation to all participating teams.

A total of 48 teams, including foreign teams from Hong Kong and Singapore, are competing in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Hannah praised Harian Metro, which is under the New Straits Times Press group, for their efforts to help former national athletes.

The families of five former national athletes received contributions of RM3,000 each under a collaboration between Harian Metro and the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) in conjunction with the Harian Metro Sports Icon Awards.

The five former national athletes, who have all passed away, are Marciano Franco, S. Sabapathi, S. Sukumaran (all track and field) as well as Salahuddin Che Rose and Hashim Mustapha (both football).

Hannah presented the cheques to the families in Bukit Kiara.

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