KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry is always committed in cooperating with the authorities to combat corruption or gambling in sports, says its minister Hannah Yeoh.
She said the ministry had held the National Sports Associations Anti-Corruption Advocacy Programme and the National Sports Associations Corruption-Free Pledge together with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on August 3.
In addition, she said the ministry also held a meeting over illegal betting in sports with the police, the National Sports Council (NSC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Aug 22.
“I have raised all the concerns to the police and they also said they will get more detailed data. As you know, betting does not only occur in e-sports but also on the outcome of matches and match-fixing (can occur) in any kind of match.
“…we will now see how we can strengthen the cooperation between us, the MACC and the police, whereby they will be present at NSC for the pledge with sports associations and athletes to make sure there is good governance. We are in the awareness stage,” she said after attending a dialogue session with Standard Chartered here today.
Asked if the ministry had received any information regarding misconduct in the country’s sporting arena, Hannah said so far the ministry had not received any specific complaints, but it was ready to cooperate if required by the authorities.
Yesterday, MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the electronic sports or e-sports industry was now being monitored by the commission due to its exposure to corruption and betting activities.
Meanwhile, Hannah said any changes to the list of athletes in the Road To Gold (RTG) programme would only be discussed at the evaluation committee meeting after the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games ends.
“We will discuss with the committee, but the focus now is the Asian Games, the most important thing is that they (athletes) have to do their best there,” she said.
The RTG programme is a national project with the objective of coordinating efforts in the hunt for the country’s first gold medal at the Olympic Games. – September 7, 2023