Sports Development Act 1997 to be amended: Khairy

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Youth and Sports hopes to table the amendments to the Sports Development Act 1997 in the next sitting of parliament session to tighten the regulation on sports events in the country.
Its minister, Khairy Jamaluddin said the drafting of the amendments which began in 2015 was almost complete and would be sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers as soon as possible for approval.
"We hope to table the amendments in parliament in March next year, provided the general election has not been called by then," he said after launching Rimau Cafe at the Ministry of Youth and Sports here, today.
Khairy reportedly said the proposed amendments include raising the fine to RM500,000 and extending the jail sentence on organisers who did not comply with the regulations.
Errant event organisers are liable to a maximum fine of RM5,000, jail not exceeding six months or both, under the Sports Development Act 1997 (SDA).
Amendments to the SDA came up after three runners were injured in a car crash during the Klang City International Marathon 2017 on Sunday.
The organisers came under scrutiny for holding the event without approval from the Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO).
On the exclusion of sepak takraw, weightlifting and taekwondo as core sports, he said National Sports Council director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail would meet with the sports associations to explain the decision.
Earlier, Khairy expressed a sense of pride with the launch of Rimau Cafe which aims to provide exposure to autism youths and further develop the skills of youths with disabilities.
"We will place the autism youths in the cafe together with the normal trainees as we want them to be self-reliant," he said after witnessing the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) documents between the ministry's Youth Skills Development Division and Panasonic Industrial Devices Malaysia, Padiberas Nasional, Stadium Corporation Malaysia, Mydin Mohamed Holdings, Kian Joo Group of Companies, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). — Bernama