KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — The 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma) NSC 2022, to be held from September 16 to 24, has received more than RM5 million in sponsorship from 14 local companies.

Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said he was grateful that the strategic effort with the sponsorship partners saw the organiser not only receiving cash sponsorship but also goods and services during the Games.

“I am confident that this strategic effort with our sponsorship partners will be reinforced after this.

“I take this opportunity to also urge other corporate companies to join in the sponsorship not only for Sukma but also other sporting events,” he said at a press conference to introduce the 20th Sukma NSC 2022 sponsors, here, today.

Ahmad Faizal is confident with the ability of the National Sports Council (NSC) in organising Sukma despite only getting the right to host it at the end of last year after Johor, which was supposed to host this edition, asked for a postponement to host the event in 2024.

Meanwhile, he said his ministry was prepared to use the 20th Sukma as an opportunity to re-introduce weightlifting as a core sport.

However, he called on the weightlifting fraternity to continue its momentum of excellence including its achievement at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games or any other championships before weightlifting could truly deserve to be included back as a core sport.

At the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, the weightlifting team under Yon Haryono won gold through Mohamad Aniq Kasdan in the 55 kilogramme (kg) category and Muhamad Aznil Bidin (61kg) while Muhammad Erry Hidayat contributed silver (73kg).

Weightlifting was one of the three sports dropped from the list of national core sports. The other two were sepak takraw and taekwondo in 2017. This followed the poor performance of the weightlifting team plus disciplinary problems like failing the doping tests.

The 20th Sukma will see more than 31 sports being contested involving the organisation of 426 events at several selected locations including the Klang Valley, Nilai and Langkawi.

More than 9,000 athletes and officials from 15 contingents have confirmed their participation in the games this time. — Bernama