KUANTAN, April 1 (Bernama) -- The Pahang High Performance Sports Development Plan 2021-2030 will provide a strategic core for developing sports in the state, including in unearthing new talents, the Pahang State Assembly was told today.
State Human Resources, Youth, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain said the search for new talents to bring glory to Pahang would be done with the cooperation of outside agencies and through community engagement efforts like introducing Pahang sports icons to inspire young athletes.
"Cooperation between the Pahang Sports Council (MSP) and Pahang Education Department will also be strengthened to ensure athletes strike a balance between academic achievements and sporting excellence,” he said.
Mohd Johari said this when replying to a question from Sim Chon Siang (PH-Teruntum), who wanted to know the initiatives taken by the state government to strengthen the state’s line-up of athletes.
He also said no Pahang athletes were dropped from national training programmes as all the 13 athletes under the Podium programme and three athletes under back-up squad training had been retained in preparation for three major games this year.
The three major sporting events are the SEA Games in Vietnam, Birmingham Commonwealth Games in England and Hangzhou Asian Games in China.
To a supplementary question from Sim on financial aid for athletes, Mohd Johari said the state government had taken care of the welfare of athletes even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There were athletes and coaches who were impacted by the postponement of the Malaysia Games (Sukma), and the state government was asked to ensure they continued to receive their allowances which should have been stopped. We have spent almost RM700,000 to continue paying the allowances,” he said.
He said MSP had also helped in managing the funeral of badminton player Wan Ezremy Shaqir Wan Erman, 18, who was killed in a road accident yesterday.
-- BERNAMA
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