YOUTH and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said sports should be kept separate from politics, in response to reports of politicians being involved in sports associations.

However, she did not rule out the importance of appointing influential people to these groups for them to obtain sufficient funding and solve their financial shortcomings.

“But to ensure the ‘reset’ of sports in this country, associations must have sufficient funds to develop the sports,” she said.

“That is why when they want to gather funds, they look for influential personalities to help them source funds,” she told reporters after opening the 2023 National Martial Arts Championship at Titiwangsa Stadium in Kuala Lumpur today.

She said her ministry will work with the Education Ministry and Higher Education Ministry to successfully “reset” the country’s sports landscape by absorbing young talent from schools and colleges.

“If we want to ensure we get the biggest platform for new talent, we cannot just rely on MSN (National Sports Council), Putrajaya or the national level.

“We need to do more and I believe with the RM40 million grant from the Finance Ministry this year, we can have more tournaments like today’s where young kids can come together and develop an interest in sports,” she said.

The agenda to “reset” local sports became a hot topic after Malaysia’s poor performance at the 2023 SEA Games, in which the contingent failed to deliver its target of 40 gold medals. – Bernama, May 21, 2023.