Don't point fingers at anyone if target not met - NSC

National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakub expressed regret over a statement by Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) president Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin regarding the achievements of the country’s athletes at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

He said the Paralympians should always be supported regardless of whether they win or lose and not point fingers at anyone when the target set is not achieved.

Rashid (above, right) said there was no issue of NSC interfering and “bullying” the chef de mission (CDM) to the Paris Paralympic Games R Subramaniam as claimed by Shahriman, because all decisions were mutually agreed upon by all quarters, with MSN never objecting to any decision made by MPM.

“I am more upset because MPM was the one to set the target, but there is no need to point fingers and find fault when it is not achieved. NSC is not saying it is not responsible, MPM is also responsible, but there is no need to point fingers at anyone,” he said.

Rashid described Shahriman’s statement as reckless, extreme and hasty.

“On the night Abdul Latif Romly missed the gold and won the silver, there was also a similar statement, even though we met almost every day for discussion at the sports village," he told reporters after welcoming the return of the national contingent at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1, last night.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was held from Aug 28 to Sept 8.

The Malaysian contingent left for Paris with a target of four gold medals but brought home two golds, two silvers and one bronze.

The gold medals were contributed by men’s singles badminton player Cheah Liek Hou for the SU5 event (physical disability) and Bonnie Bunyau Gustin in the men’s 72kg powerlifting event.

Latif won the silver medal in the T20 men’s long jump (intellectual disability) and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli in the F20 men’s shot put (intellectual disability), while Eddy Bernard won bronze in the T44 men’s 100m (physical disability).

Rashid was commenting on Shahriman’s claim that NSC interfered in the management of the Malaysian contingent at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, one of the factors Malaysia failed to achieve the target of four gold medals.

He said although the team brought home one less gold medal at the Games this year, the overall performance of the national contingent remained consistent, winning five medals as they did in Tokyo 2020 (three gold and two silver) and three gold and one bronze in Rio 2016.

No bullying

Separately, Subramaniam denied that he was “bullied”.

“As the CDM, my mission was to take the team there, complete the mission and bring them home safely, which I’ve done. We didn’t lose the war we just lost the battle in Paris. There’s always another day for us to fight back.

“I believe what he (Shahriman) is trying to say is for improvement of the system. He wants to improve the system, he said.

- Bernama

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