Ahmad Faizal calls on friends and foes alike to join forces for betterment of country's sports

KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has called on all parties, including political rival Steven Sim, to stop pointing fingers and work together to strengthen sports in the country.

Ahmad Faizal said politics in sports would not advance the cause.

He (Steven) and I both have to do a better job to make sure our sports gets better, instead of engaging in politicking.

"If we become political concerning sports, just like there are also national sports associations that are more political than political parties, our sports will not progress," he told a press conference after attending the SEA Games Golf Team Awards Presentation Ceremony at the Royal Selangor Golf Club here, today.

Ahmad Faizal said this when asked about Steven's official Facebook post commenting on his statement on the performance and achievements of the national contingent at the recently-concluded 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In the posting on May 22, Steven, from DAP, had claimed that Ahmad Faizal blamed the athletes over the achievements of the entire national contingent at the biennial sporting event.

In this regard, Ahmad Faizal said Steven's mistake in interpreting his statement was probably because the former Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports (under the Pakatan Harapan government then) did not understand the context he wanted to explain in relation to the matter.

"I said no Malaysian was happy (for Malaysia) to be in sixth place overall, if you ask our athletes to get bronze will they happy with bronze? Not 100 per cent happy, (but) they did well.

"I also say to the national sports associations, all of us need to buck up to get a better overall position but in terms of targets, we achieved these... our mission was accomplished," said the Bersatu deputy president.

Commenting further, Ahmad Faizal said the overall achievement of 39 gold medals as well as sixth place in Hanoi must be improved upon with hard work so that Malaysia can achieve more glorious achievements in the future.

In Hanoi, the national contingent managed to surpass the target of 36 gold, 35 silver and 75 bronze medals by hauling 39-45-90 medals, thus finishing sixth behind overall champions Vietnam (205-125-116), Thailand (92-103- 137), Indonesia (69-91-81), Philippines (52-70-105) and Singapore (47-46-73).

-- BERNAMA