No approval needed from SC to organise competitions, sports associations told

PUTRAJAYA: Sports associations registered under the Sports Development Act 1997 (Act 576), need not seek approval from the Sports Commissioner to organise local sports competitions starting April 10, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh today.

Hannah Yeoh stressed that sports associations or sports bodies must however, adhere to the guidelines set to ensure the health and safety aspects, including providing insurance coverage to ensure the security and safety of participants.

She said the decision was made following a dialogue session with chief executives and sports industry players on Jan 31, and also in line with the Malaysia MADANI concept of focusing on issues and taking steps to resolve such issues and also ease the process of organising sports events in the country.

"This was in line with the aspiration of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, that is, to reduce bureaucracy. We are talking about the 'Road to Gold' in the 2024 Paris Olympics and want to win medals and focus on athletes' welfare.

"The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) is also looking after the eco-system of sports at every district level to ease the process," she told reporters during a press conference on the organising of sports events, at Menara KBS, here today.

However, organisers are responsible for securing approval from the relevant sports bodies and insurance to ensure the safety of participants, she said.

Hannah Yeoh added that the licence fee will be exempted until December 31, 2025 while the duration of processing licences has been reduced for local sports events from 30 days to 14 working days and from 90 days to 30 working days for international sporting events.

Applications for licences in Sabah and Sarawak will be processed by their respective sports commissioner's office.

"When we held a town hall, there were organisers who shed tears due to the high licence fee (RM10,000) charged while many claimed they would not be able to organise sporting events due to the high cost involved.

"In line with the changes introduced, I urge sports bodies and associations to take advantage of the reduced cost for organisers and they can now organise more sports events, if possible we want to see sports events organised every week," she said.

--BERNAMA