KUALA LUMPUR – A new para-swimming coach has arrived to take over duties from the coach who is currently under investigation over alleged sexual assault on a male para-swimmer.
The Paralympic Council of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin is thankful to Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh for facilitating the arrival of the new coach from Japan.
“After lodging the police report on the coach that allegedly sexually assaulted our athlete, I wrote to the National Sports Council (NSC) to recommend that she go on gardening leave.
“This is so that investigations can be carried out fairly and in a safe environment for the athlete.
“For your information, we have a new coach from Japan, Fumiyo Minemura, who just arrived recently. She will take over from the Chinese coach to prepare our para-swimmers for the Paris Paralympics.
“We at the Malaysian Para-Swimming Association (Prepma) are thankful to minister Hannah Yeoh as we have asked for this coach since last year,” he said today at a MoU signing between the Paralympic Council and nine companies at the Paralympic Centre of Excellence, here today.
“I don’t want to comment on the issue as there is an ongoing police investigation on the issue. Let the authorities do their job and let’s hope that there is a swift outcome from the investigation.
“Before this, para-swimming was under Malaysia Aquatics where the NSC handled the sport.
“Prepma was only established in June last year, and any previous email complaints before that, we have no idea about it.
“This case involving the para-swimmer, who is also a minor, is the first complaint that we have received. But if there is a need to investigate previous complaints, we will do it as we don’t want this issue to be swept under the rug,” said Megat, who is also the president of Prepma.
Meanwhile, Megat said that an early target of 10 medals in Paris will be difficult to achieve but is a good challenge for the country’s paralympians.
From the 10, Megat has set a target of four gold medals to take Malaysia’s total haul of Paralympic golds to 10.
For the record, Malaysia won three gold medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and added another three at the 2020 Tokyo Games. – March 5, 2024