The withdrawal of 88 athletes from Sukma 2022 will affect Sarawak's preparations for Malaysia's largest sports carnival

Recently I have mentioned again to our media friends on impacts of withdrawal by 88 of our athletes from competing in this year's Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) which to some extent affected the preparations of Sarawak's contingent to compete in the country's largest games carnival.

Looking at the large number of athletes who have withdrawn, we need look for their replacements  who can compete in Sukma which is scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur instead of Johor Bahru.

In order to ensure the preparation of the Sarawak contingent runs smoothly, the management of our Sukma contingent will need replace or fill the vacancies of athletes who have been shortlisted but were unable to join the games.

There must be a plan or a way for us to dig out talents continuously to see the potential of athletes, so if there are one or two who come out of one sport, we believe we can find another one at least. For that matter, I will be meeting with all local sports associations and the respective sports development officers from Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) to ensure that there are athletes who could be picked to replace the withdrawn athletes.

Among the reasons why our athletes had withdrawn from competing in the this year's Sukma is because of the surpassing the qualifying age limit, having job commitments, some are already married and while there those who were offered to continue their studies at universities.

The 88 athletes who have withdrawn were actually bound to be competing in Sukma which was supposed to be held in Johor in the year 2020. The Johor Sukma was not held last year due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and it was also a factor affecting Sarawak’s preparations for the games as well.

When we faced the Movement Control Order (MCO) over the past two years, it has to some extent affected the preparation of athletes whether it is Sukma or other competitions. With Sarawak having entered Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), we do hope for all athletes to continue training and to return to their expected level of readiness.