KUALA LUMPUR - The move to send backup athletes to the recently-concluded 2023 Cambodia SEA Games was a good move in terms of providing them with exposure despite the inclination by sports fans to look at the results produced by the national contingent.
The chef de mission of the 2021 Hanoi SEA Games, Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said that in preparing backup athletes, sports associations must play a role by ensuring their efforts on early development are carried out at the grassroots level before setting any realistic targets for their athletes.
"The exposure and development of backup athletes must be highlighted in Southeast Asian-level championships. That way they will already know the opponents they will face in the SEA Games,” he said when met recently.
Nur Azmi, who is also the Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) president, was commenting on the action by the Youth and Sports Ministry in defending their decision to send backup athletes at the media conference on Malaysia’s 2023 SEA Games performance yesterday.
He also brushed aside the perception that most sports associations did not have any targets as they probably felt pressured by the benchmark set by the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Ministry.
"Now is not the time to point fingers but focus on the 2025 Thailand SEA Games, otherwise everything will still be the same. Focus on sports that can rake in more medals.
"Forget the past. After this, the structure must be strong for us to compete in the Thailand SEA Games and the 2027 edition on home ground,” he said. - BERNAMA