Netizens have a right to be angry at Peja and his treatment of athletes, especially after his back-to-back statements on the matter, ranging from “they can come back to prove themselves” to “we are just being responsible parents.”
But Peja himself should not shoulder the blame all on his own, nor should we forget the circumstances that not only led to the firing of these athletes, but the slow death of our sports scene on its own.
In fact, much of this can be related towards the previous Youth Minister Syed Saddiq, who spent much of his tenure hobbling our sports scene.
On a larger scale, Syed Saddiq made many a promise to the nation’s youth such as the creation of 350,000 to 1 million jobs for Malaysians and absolving PTPTN debts nationwide – all of which he has frankly failed to deliver.
But more importantly, Malaysians should remember Syed Saddiq’s less than stellar tenure handling a vital pillar for the national psyche: sports.
He jumped into his portfolio as Minister of Youth and Sports promising for a better foundation for athletes across the spectrum, including e-sports and professional wrestling.
What we got was a disappointing SEA Games 2019 performance, with various excuses issued by the portfolio minister in an attempt to explain the contingent’s failure to meet the mark.
It was made more frustrating for sports fans when he put out his excuses, saying that part of the blame lay on part of athletic associations for massaging their potential numbers but has done little to update the public on the post-mortem that was supposed to follow.
This, of course, ignores the many grouses of athletes over a lack of funding and attention under his watch – resulting in the controversy of the PODIUM program and perhaps stymying Malaysian progress in sports by decades.
His much-vaunted reform programs such as the four-tier national program under the National Sports Council (NSC), never did address the deep structural issues faced by our national athletes.
It was also revealed in 2019 that 13 ARMADA Exco members were appointed as KBS officers across 13 states – which Saddiq later claimed he had no knowledge of – demonstrating a glaring lack of able leadership and a sheer lack of accountability within his ministry.
These appointments were also almost a year after Saddiq announced that he would not allow political appointees for state sports council directorships and after he chided his fellow MPs for accepting sport association appointments.
His final big announcement of a RM 22.5 million booster shot may allay the worries of athletes participating in the Olympics was a welcome relief – but it would have taken more than money to rebuild the confidence and support system for our athletes that arguably have been left in the wayside.
The sports scene in the country ended on a sour note near the end of Saddiq’s term as Minister – with many athletes publicly voicing out against Saddiq’s management of KBS as ignoring and being out of touch with their needs. This is the legacy that many in our sports scene will remember Saddiq for.
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