National athletes not encouraged to go professional, says Yeoh

The Star

a day ago

KUALA LUMPUR: National athletes are not encouraged to leave sporting bodies and go professional, says the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said national athletes have ample allocations through the Podium programme, with additional infrastructure if listed under the Road to Gold programme.
'For private sponsorships however, not all professional athletes can find funds for subsequent years especially if their ranking drops,' she said during question time in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (July 31).
'In general, we do not encourage (going professional) especially for mainstream sports,' she added.
Citing badminton as an example, she said it could lead to professionals having a lack of sparring partners.
'They may not be able to train with peers or those with the same skill levels.
'Under the Badminton Association of Malaysia and the Road to Gold programme, we provide sparring partners to ensure they can continue being competitive with athletes on their level,' she said, adding that national sporting bodies also utilise experienced coaches.
Yeoh, however, acknowledged that it is difficult to give equal allocation and support to all sports.
'We need to look at how popular the sport is to the rakyat,' she said, noting how these were among the challenges faced on a tight budget.
She was responding to a supplementary question by Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap) who asked if the ministry had any guidelines or monitoring systems to ensure private entities do not neglect national athletes who choose to compete as a professional.
Among notable sporting stars who chose to leave national sporting bodies was national singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia.
In 2022, Lee announced that he would be pursuing a professional career, leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia.