KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said that the Cabinet meeting had agreed to an exception for the programme "Road to Tokyo 2020”.

He said that the special leeway will be given to 265 individuals, including 57 national athletes, to prepare and train for the Olympics and Paralympics competition in Tokyo, Japan, early next year.

"The training session will be conducted in three central training camps. They are Bukit Jalil Sports Complex, which involves 181 individuals; the Malaysia Badminton Academy at Bukit Kiara, which involves 56 individuals; and the National Yacht Training Centre in Langkawi which involves 28 individuals,” he told a press conference this afternoon.

Ismail Sabri said that the first phase of the training session at the central training camps will start from June 1 to 30.

"All the individuals involved will be tested for Covid-19 during registration. The Youth and Sports Ministry will use the quarantine-based approach, where the individuals will be quarantined for 30 days.

"Those who are involved are not allowed to leave the training camps. They will be also swabbed again for Covid-19 before the end of the training session,” he added.

He also said that a monitoring committee, chaired by the Youth and Sport Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, will ensure standard operating procedures are followed at the training camps. 

"The authorities have imposed strict SOPs and individuals must practise social distancing throughout their training session,” he said.