KUALA LUMPUR – The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has urged all national sports associations (NSAs) to establish qualification criteria to ensure the best athletes are selected for next year’s Bangkok SEA Games.
The governing body aims to introduce this initiative to ensure a balanced Malaysian contingent for the biennial sports event, allowing both junior and senior athletes to compete and win medals for the country.
OCM secretary-general Datuk Nazifuddin Najib said that setting qualification criteria for NSAs to send their top athletes is already standard practice in countries like China, the United States, and Singapore.
Nazifuddin also said that the qualification criteria OCM plans to introduce will benefit the national contingent in the long run, including for other major sporting events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics.
“This week, we met with the NSAs and concluded that it would be better to have a qualification criteria for each sport. Previously, we used a system with category A (seniors) and category B (juniors) but it was not detailed enough.
“We want each association to discuss and determine the qualification criteria for the SEA Games that they believe are the best in terms of the athletes’ merit and performance. We will bring this matter to the next committee discussion,” said Nazifuddin when met at the 210th OCM executive council meeting at Wisma OCM today.
He also said that the proposed qualification system would increase transparency, as athletes’ achievements will be measured based on their performances in current tournaments leading up to the SEA Games.
“In the past, we relied heavily on a limited set of records before sending athletes to the SEA Games. For example, they had to win events like the SEA Games or Sukma. We realised that these records were outdated, hence we need to assess athletes based on their most recent achievements.
“With clear qualification criteria, we will evaluate athletes based on their recent tournaments before the SEA Games, as approved by world and Asian governing bodies. We aim to be more transparent and detailed so that athletes understand their performance levels and what they need to achieve,” Nazifuddin added.
OCM has requested all NSAs to submit their athlete qualification criteria for the SEA Games by the end of this year.
The matter will be further discussed during the OCM athlete selection committee meeting early next year. — September 28, 2024