Former National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Mazlan Ahmad has suggested that a new ‘shadow’ committee being set up to uplift Malaysian sports.

Mazlan said that such a committee should be headed by the Minister of Youth and Sports and its focus should be towards encouraging involvement in sports at the grassroots level.

This committee should also run parallel with all the existing sports programmes so as not to interfere with what is already running, Mazlan told Astro Awani in a recent interview.

“We want to build a culture of sports in this nation, not just a focus on national teams but have everyone involved. It is not just about winning medals but also about unity, and being healthy,” he said.

Mazlan said the committee, aimed at further developing sports for the masses, should look into areas like accessibility of facilities, developing coaches, finances, medical aspects, education, volunteers and equipment.

“Grassroots sports should not be the alternative; we must make it the mainstream. So that we can have new athletes and talents to feed the system,” he said.

Mazlan said a perennial issue that the country is facing is the various sports agencies-- including the ministry, NSC, Olympic Council of Malaysia, the Sports Commission of Malaysia, the various associations and clubs are not working together.

“Each seems to be doing its own thing and they seem to be lost. Something is wrong somewhere, we are not producing enough good athletes. We seem to be putting all our eggs in one basket. Everyone has their role to play, but are they actively playing their roles? ”asked Mazlan.

He said that to produce good Malaysians teams, a “total revamp of the current system” is needed. He stressed that the Ministry has to take the lead and “the Minister’s role is very important" as "it is easier to see things when you are on top.”

Mazlan, the longest-serving DG, was touted as the person responsible for the success of the Jaya ‘98 programme (also known as the Commonwealth Games 1998 Athletes Preparation Programme) which accelerated Malaysia’s medal-winning performance in multi-sports events.

The programme had focused resources on multiple medal sports such as diving, shooting, archery and cycling. These sports were also selected as they suited the Malaysian athlete’s physique.

The sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced the plans to make Malaysia a "sporting nation" in years to come today.

Khairy said the priority was to prepare the athletes to challenge for gold medals at the SEA Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

He then wants to ensure proper ground work to maximise the talent development programmes so that there is a wider pool of athletes.