KUALA LUMPUR: Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has assured the three sports dropped from the National Sports Council’s development programme – weightlifting, sepak takraw and taekwondo – that they will not be left out in the cold and ignored.
Therefore, he said a plan to save all three sports is being drawn up by the National Sports Council (NSC) and hopes that the heads of each of the three sporting bodies involved will be committed and agreeable to the implementation of such a plan.
“I have asked the NSC to think of the best way possible to save all three sports.
“However, I wish to stress that this plan is not meant to take over the management and running of all three sports involved, but rather to help them rise again and to prove that we are not ignoring them,” he said.
Khairy said so after witnessing the Supermokh Cup semi-final matches in Bukit Jalil here earlier today.
Last Tuesday, Khairy announced that all three sports have been dropped from the list of core sports after the Sports Ministry and the NSC carried out an in depth study and analysis on the performance of all three sports for the first time since 2007.
Apart from deteriorating performances, the drugs test failure of a few athletes and internal wrangles and struggles were also factors behind the move to drop all three sports.
The move shocked the heads of all three sporting bodies, the athletes and parents who have come forward with various different reactions.
“What we’re doing is to also send a clear message to all. Without such a message or warning, they will not realise, and it is only now that they are speaking up about all that they intend to do.
"If I did not approve dropping these sports from the Malaysia Games (SUKMA), then they would not be on the receiving end of criticism from the athletes parents. So this is also a message to the parents and the public that they can also be affected by development that is not well or properly managed.
"I also noticed that a few states have blamed such a move by saying that they will not win gold. This is incorrect philosophy. SUKMA is a development platform for weightlifting, sepak takraw and taekwondo, but some states look at it as a goldmine,” was Khairy’s answer to reactions that have surfaced because of the move to drop the three sports.