KUALA LUMPUR: The Youth and Sports Ministry will reintroduce the "empowerment" method for National Sports Associations (NSAs) which will help them to better manage their financial allocations.
This will see the government distribute funding for NSAs every four months (January to April, May to August, and September to December).
The funds cover athlete and coach management, performance management, development programmes, and support services. And the NSAs' accounts will be audited by National Sports Council (NSC)-appointed auditors.
Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the first phase of the programme will support the Podium and National Backup Programme for this year. It involves 19 NSAs and 23 sports.
Yeoh said the "empowerment" method was successfully used for the Kita Juara programme from 2017 to 2019. Hence it's being revived.
"This is an initiative to strengthen the governance of NSAs through the implementation of the Podium and National backup programmes. The NSAs will now play an important role in handling the finances of the Podium and National backup programmes," said Yeoh after the signing ceremony at the NSC today.
"At this early stage, the NSC has identified 19 NSAs to sign an agreement to accept the 'empowerment' method. Other NSAs will undergo the process in the next phase.
"The NSAs have agreed to the terms set by the NSC management board where they are required to sign the agreement. Secondly, they must set up a separate account to receive the allocations from the NSC. Thirdly, they must allow the accounts to be audited by NSC-appointed auditors.
"The method will start in June this year, and the allocations will be channeled in accordance with the training plans agreed upon by the NSC and NSAs.
"Through this method, NSAs can save money as they can plan early, and their finances will be better organised."
Yeoh said the amount channeled to the NSAs is based on their programmes, and they can only use the funds for the allocated and pre-agreed programmes.
Yeoh said the Olympic Council of Malaysia will conduct workshops for NSAs on the management and governance under the "empowerment" method.
"Previously, the pay-and-claim method was used, and the NSAs had problems rolling their funds. They could not get approvals early. For example, they had to book flight tickets late, which cost more. With this method, they can book early."