SIBU, Aug 7 — Every aspect related to athletes’ participation in major sporting events needs to be discussed well in advance with all relevant stakeholders.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim said that this is to ensure issues similar to those faced by shuttlers Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei at the Paris Olympics do not recur.

“Although the issue has been clarified, the Ministry of Youth and Sports still gets the flak. We need to consider the interests of not just all stakeholders, athletes and associations but also the supporters,” he said after attending the Kembara Jumpa Orang Muda (Kembara JOM) Sarawak 2024 event at Universiti Teknologi Sarawak (UTS) yesterday.

He was responding to media reports claiming that men’s singles player Zii Jia was denied the services of a physiotherapist and a sparring partner, while women’s singles ace Jin Wei’s coach, Nova Armada, could not accompany her to Paris.

The fact that Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Norza Zakaria was able to bring his family to the Olympics has led to dissatisfaction among local sports fans, who have subsequently blamed Norza for the issues affecting Zii Jia and Jin Wei.

Norza has clarified that he has a special quota as OCM president, allowing him to bring guests to the Games without interfering with the allocations stipulated for athletes and officials, as permitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Adam Adli explained that sports management is a challenging field, where the ministry must not only handle athlete performance but also focus on providing the best sporting facilities to ensure effective sports development.

“At the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we constantly face criticism and pressure from Malaysians and we need to be open to all feedback and take responsibility for improving our practices over time,” he said.

However, he declined to comment on calls for Norza to resign as OCM president.

“We have already made the best efforts we can but the accreditation cards issued by the IOC are subject to various limitations,” he added, stressing that the current priority is to ease the pressure that could distract the national athletes in Paris.

Instead, he emphasised the need to provide strong support for the athletes to continue their efforts for the country. — Bernama