Sports associations urge age limit consideration after Sukma postponement
National sports associations (NSA) generally agreed with the decision to cancel and postpone the 20th Malaysian Games (Sukma) and Para Sukma events till 2022, but are concerned over several aspects, such as the age limit.
The Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) president Shahrul Zaman Yahya said the decision made by the Sukma Supreme Committee yesterday (to postpone the game) is wise, following the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
“MRU supports the decision, (because) at the end of the day, the welfare of the players is the most important factor. We know how athletes will feel, they may be sad after training so hard for a few years, but to continue the Games in this situation will be a huge risk...
National sports associations (NSA) generally agreed with the decision to cancel and postpone the 20th Malaysian Games (Sukma) and Para Sukma events till 2022, but are concerned over several aspects, such as the age limit.
The Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) president Shahrul Zaman Yahya said the decision made by the Sukma Supreme Committee yesterday (to postpone the game) is wise, following the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
“MRU supports the decision, (because) at the end of the day, the welfare of the players is the most important factor. We know how athletes will feel, they may be sad after training so hard for a few years, but to continue the games in this situation will be a huge risk.
“We feel it is fair that Johor has been given the opportunity to host Sukma in 2022, as we know our brothers in Johor worked hard in terms of preparations and planning, besides spending money on building infrastructure,” he told Bernama.
Shahrul, who is aware that the National Sports Council (NSC), and the Sukma and Para Sukma Technical Committees will be scrutinising several aspects such as the age limit and qualifications, said MRU will decide on the matter after its Exco meeting in a week.
“The NSC is looking at the appeals made by a few NSAs on allowing registered athletes to compete at Sukma without the age limit as they will be two years older then.
"We will make a decision on whether to submit an appeal on the issue after our meeting, because we need to get feedback from affiliates as well,” he added.
The age limit for Sukma is 21 and below, but there are sports such as gymnastics which have set the limit at 15 years and below.
Two days ago, Youth and Sports Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican announced the postponement of the championships because of the Covid-19 pandemic and confirmed that Johor will host the Sukma and Para Sukma games in 2022 without any changes in the number of sports and events to be contested.
The Johor Sukma was supposed to be held from March 6-14 this year, but was postponed to July 11-19 due to the pandemic before being further rescheduled to April 2-10 next year.
Meanwhile, Swimming Malaysia secretary-general Mae Chen also agreed with the decision to postpone the games, taking into consideration the current state of the pandemic, which she said, is wreaking uncertainties in sports, be it in terms of training, competition and athlete selection.
“However there are some technical issues and rulings that I would strongly suggest to the Youth and Sports Ministry to look into, such as the age factor where the athletes would be two years older in 2022.
"Now with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics coming first, there would be the issue of athletes going for it first and only after that, Sukma 2022 which would be unfair.
"Not only would athletes be two years older then, but they would have also qualified for the Olympics first. They should participate in Sukma and win medals before the Olympics,” she said.
Echoing the same sentiment, Malaysian Canoe Association (Masca) deputy president Michael Wong, in a statement urged the relevant authorities to extend the qualifying age for Sukma 2022 to 23 and below.
"This is because the athletes have been working hard in preparation for Sukma 2020 and if their participation is cancelled due to the age limit, this would be unfair to them,” he said.
Michael added that Masca's main committee will hold a meeting soon to plan tournaments for the Sukma athletes when the pandemic eases, such as Pre-Sukma championship, the Sea Games 2021 and Asian Games 2022 qualifiers at the Johor Canoe Sport Complex, Tasik Rekreasi Edu Hub in Pagoh.
- Bernama
