KUALA LUMPUR: The Sabah State Sports Council has left it to its sprinters Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam and Hanssen Yap to choose between the Malaysia Games (Sukma) and the Under-20 World Junior Athletics Championships (WJAC).
If the sprinters decide to skip the Malaysia Games in Sarawak on August 17-24 and head to Lima, Peru, for the world junior competition on August 27-31, they will lose their meal allowance of RM900 and training allowance of RM350.
Sabah State Sports Council director Asneh Noor said the council will allow the sprinters to choose between the Malaysia Games and WJAC.
"We are not putting any pressure on the athletes, but there is a risk. If both of them choose to compete in the WJAC, they will no longer be part of the state's Malaysia Games squad.
They will also lose their meal and training allowances."
Asneh admitted that the Sabah squad will be weakened if Pengiran and Hanssen decide to skip the Malaysia Games.
"Pengiran is our medal prospect in the 200m at the Malaysia Games. He will also be part of the 4x100 and 4x400m events.
"Hanssen, meanwhile, is the favourite in the 100m and a member of Sabah's 4x100m relay quartet," said Asneh.
The 18-year-old Pengiran won the 200m bronze medal at the Under-20 Asian Championships in Dubai last month by clocking 21.28s.
Hanssen has a personal best of 10.37s in the 100m achieved when he won the gold medal at the Philippines Championships last week.
Asneh added that the Sabah State Sports Council had spent RM60,000 from their Malaysia Games budget to send four athletes to the Asian Junior Championships in Dubai.
"Now, we do not have a budget to send Pengiran and Hanssen to Peru for the WJAC. The remaining funds will be allocated to prepare our athletes for the Malaysia Games."
The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) has given Pengiran, Hanssen, and three other athletes until June 16 to decide whether to compete at the WJAC.
The three other qualifiers are Penang's Sayyid Amin Roslan (men's 200m), Ng Tak Sing (triple jump), and Johor's Fiross Faizal (110m hurdles).
In the past, many athletes skipped international tournaments and chose the Malaysia Games because their teams offered rewards of between RM5,000 and RM10,000 if they won medals.