FORMER national sprint ace Watson Nyambek admitted to not being fully clear about the issue of athletes’ training allowance cut when he commented on the athletics team’s poor performance at the recently concluded 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. 

The National Sports Council (NSC) said it has contacted Watson to get further clarification regarding his comments on the issue, which were published in a portal today. 

“We contacted Watson the moment the article was published and the former sprinter admitted that he was not clear about the issue regarding the training allowance cut,” NSC said in a statement today.

NSC also described allegations about the training allowance cut, which were first brought up by former deputy youth and sports minister Steven Sim, and subsequently commented on by Watson in said article, were inaccurate and needed to be clarified.

NSC said the performance of the national athletes at the 2021 SEA Games was not due to financial constraints but because many championships were not held or cancelled by the host nations following measures taken to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020.

The council, however, acknowledged the fact that there were fewer competitions overseas for national athletes prior to the biennial Games in Vietnam and that this was mentioned in the summary of the national contingent’s performance on Sunday.

In January, NSC had offered contract extensions to athletes eligible to undergo full-time training under the Podium Programme. 

“At that time, there were suggestions to reduce the training allowance for athletes as there was no specific allocation for that purpose. 

“However, thanks to the initiative of Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who was also supported by other ministers, the cabinet agreed to reinstate the annual allocation of RM60 million to fund the Podium Programme,” the statement added. 

Following that, NSC was instructed in mid-January to pay in full the full training allowance and all athletes immediately enjoyed the payments according to their respective eligibility.

Each SEA Games gold medallist receives a training allowance of RM2,000 a month, followed by RM1,500 per month for silver medallists and RM1,000 for bronze medallists. 

In the May 12-23 Hanoi SEA Games, Malaysia finished sixth in the medal standings after returning with a haul of 39-45-90, thus exceeding their target of 36-35-75. – Bernama, May 25, 2022.