KUALA LUMPUR – Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) vice president Muhd Iqbal Sulaiman has called on his president, Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, to show some gratitude towards the National Sports Council (NSC).
He said that Megat should be grateful for all the financial assistance provided by NSC over the years.
Iqbal’s comments come after Megat recently told Scoop that NSC has never conducted any development programmes for para-athletes.
Megat also claimed that NSC has always interfered with and dictated PCM’s administrative matters, including the control of funds allocated to it.
Speaking to Scoop recently, Iqbal said that NSC has never failed to support development programmes for para-athletes and has always fairly disbursed funds to all 25 sports associations under PCM.
“Everything Megat said about NSC is not true. It has been supporting all 25 associations.
“In fact, NSC has been funding Wheelchair Tennis Malaysia between RM750,000 and RM1 million annually. On top of that, all the associations under PCM have also made their own efforts to secure funds rather than solely relying on the NSC.
“The NSC has also helped our athletes participate in the para-podium programme on several occasions.
“In addition, all the salaries and allowances for both athletes and coaches are paid by NSC, not PCM. NSC even approved RM30,000 when Megat requested to organise the unveiling ceremony for the Paris Paralympic attire.
“Considering all of this, it is unfair for Megat to claim that NSC hasn’t helped us enough.
“Attacks from Megat toward NSC and the Youth and Sports Ministry are baseless. He should not be biting the hands that feed us,” Iqbal said when met.
Meanwhile, Iqbal questioned Megat over the validity of his meeting with the Finance Ministry requesting RM15 million for PCM.
“Where is the proof? PCM’s board and executive members know nothing about it. Shouldn’t we, as the executive members, be briefed about this if it was true that the negotiations took place?” said Iqbal, who is also the president of Wheelchair Tennis Malaysia.
In the recently tabled Budget 2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced over RM230 million for sports development which covers podium programmes, the Road to Gold initiative, and preparations for para-athletes competing in international events like the 2025 Deaflympics in Tokyo. – October 24, 2024