State athletes to receive incentives for gold medals

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EVERY athlete who wins a gold medal in any sporting event will receive RM3,000 from the Perak government.

State Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin (BN-Sungai Manik) said the contributions of athletes should be recognised, adding that the incentive would spur them on to strive for better success.

“An athlete will get money for winning a gold medal, be it at Sukma (Malaysia Games), the SEA Games or the Olympics.

“If the state’s football team of 22 players wins first place, they will each get RM3,000 and not have to share out the present incentive of RM5,000 to RM10,000 from the state,” he said in reply to a question by Datuk Rosli Husin (BN-Trong) yesterday.

Hopeful: Rhythmic gymnastics is one of the sports that the state is capable of winning medals.

Zainol Fadzi said athletes who represent the state would also be entitled to scholarships to further their studies at the tertiary level.

“This is to ensure that our youth continue to have an interest in participating in sports,” he said.

In a supplementary question, Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Pantai Remis) asked about the state contingent’s disastrous outing at the 2011 Sukma Games in Kuala Lumpur in June.

Zainol Fadzi said the state had set up a committee to look into how it could improve the performance of its athletes.

“We have taken note of the shocking performance by our sports representatives.

“The committee will ensure that our athletes perform better next year,” he said.

Zainol Fadzi added that the State Sports Council would continue to focus on strengthening the capabilities of athletes for 13 sporting events, including rhythmic gymnastics, archery, sailing, 10-pin bowling, diving and badminton, in which the state is capable of winning medals.