Malacca to review sports fund allocation

MALACCA: The state government will review the system of fund-channelling or allocation for the state's sports associations for fairer and more systematic distribution.
State Communications, Multimedia, Youth and Sports Committee chairman, Kerk Chee Yee said under the existing fund-channelling system handled by the State Sports Council, funds would be approved after the association had attended tournaments, training programmes or other sport activities.
He said the new system would allow the fund application to be channelled before the sports programmes began so as to help the association carry out their activities as planned.
"In addition, the new method will also allow the sports associations to find sponsors as the allocation given is usually insufficient and they may not get the full amount due to National Sports Council (NSC) budget constraints," he told Bernama here today.
He said the new system is vital for the state's sports development to produce more young athletes, especially in high-performance sports.
Kerk said there are 38 sports associations in the state registered with the NSC and each association has sports clubs under its wing.
"The existing fund-allocation system makes it difficult for the associations to plan their programmes well due to the financial constraints, so much so they have to ask for financial assistance from MPs and state assemblymen through community service fund donation," he added.
He said, however, the distribution of such community fund was on the first come first served basis as it was not allocated specifically for the purpose of youth and sports development.
"Thus, those who submit their applications late would not be able to receive the limited allocation," he said. — Bernama