KUALA LUMPUR: A meeting will be held soon to decide whether young national sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi should further his studies locally or abroad, said national athletics chief coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil.

He said the meeting would involve Muhammad Azeem, his parents and coach Muhammad Amir Izwan Tan Abdullah, among others.

"We have heard of offers from UPSI (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris), UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara) and foreign universities but a decision can only be made after a meeting with Azeem, his parents and coach. It will be held soon," he told Bernama recently.

Mohd Manshahar said he personally felt that there is nothing wrong for the 18-year-old athlete to go overseas to further his studies.

"If he gets a good sponsorship and place, it's okay for Azeem to go overseas. The important thing is for him to remain among the leading batch of sprinters in the world," he said.


Apart from UPSI, the University of Winona and University of Minnesota were also reported to have made offers to the former Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Gunung Rapat student in Ipoh, who scored 6A's in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

Muhammad Azeem, billed as the Usain Bolt of Malaysia, has confirmed his participation in the 100m and 200m events at the Under-20 World Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia, from Aug 1 to 6.

Muhammad Azeem has personal bests of 10.28s in the 100m and 20.89s in the 200m.

-- BERNAMA