KUALA LUMPUR: Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin believes the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) should take on the job of organising of the 2026 Commonwealth Games privately if they really want the event to be held in Malaysia.
Shahriman said "taking it private" would free the government and taxpayers from any financial burden or consequences as a result of hosting the games.
OCM earlier this week confirmed that Malaysia has been offered the job by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which includes the promise of an £100 million (RM600 million) investment to support delivery and legacy planning for the event.
Victoria, Australia, withdrew from hosting the games last year, citing escalating costs expected to reach up to A$7 billion (RM22 billion). It reportedly agreed to pay A$380 million (RM1.2 billion) to CGF for breach of contract.
"First, I have to stress that PCM is not part of CGF so it is in the hands of OCM. There are, however, a few para events embedded in the Commonwealth Games," said Shahriman when contacted today (March 13).
"I think that if OCM really want to do this, they should take it private and find their own sponsors to fund the games.
"We should not burden our Youth and Sports Minister (Hannah Yeoh), our government and our taxpayers.
"I am confident the leadership of OCM will be able to pull it off if they do decide to take it private. If they decide to go down this path (organising it privately), PCM will give them our full support.
"I believe it (private) has been done for smaller games before so it is not impossible but they have to go and find the sponsors."
Organising the games in Malaysia is expected to cost at least RM1 billion for a simple event.
Shahriman added that government funds would be better spent on rebuilding Malaysian sports which has been in decline in recent years.
"We have a lot on our plate already with the Paris Olympics coming up as well as the 2027 Sea Games.
"Why don't we concentrate on rebuilding Malaysian sports?
"We have only a handful of athletes who qualified for the Olympics so far and how many of them have the potential to win gold medals?
"It would be better for us to put money into the sports ecosystem and invest in our pelapis (backup athletes programme) for the future."
The national contingent suffered its worst-ever performance at the Phnom Penh Sea Games last year, finishing a lowly seventh overall and failing to hit its 40-gold target.