KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) -- The National Sports Council (NSC) is mulling over the possibility of sending only back-up athletes for the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in November.

Its director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong said the decision was made after the appeals by Malaysia and several countries like Singapore and Laos, for the inclusion of several major events such as billiard and snooker, and women's football, were rejected by the organiser.

He said that the move to drop several events would adversely affect Malaysia's medal chances.

"Why should we waste time and money to send the elite athletes if it is only for a small gain.

"It's better for us to send the back-up athletes for the purpose of exposure," he told reporters after attending the NSC's 40th anniversary, in Bukit Jalil, here.

He said the organisers should not be thinking only of selfish gains by listing only events which they were good at.

For instance, he said, Indonesia listed only one track cycling event but introduced more highway cycling because they had strengths in it.

On Friday, the SEA Games Federation at its meeting in Bali, rejected Malaysia's appeal for the reinclusion of 60 dropped events.

-- BERNAMA

0 comments:

Post a Comment

top