Why the ‘preferential’ treatment for football, Prime Minister?

Why the ‘preferential’ treatment for football, Prime Minister?
"Why the ‘preferential’ treatment for football, Prime Minister?"

Malaysia’s top athletes, who secured podium finishes at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, were invited to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Parliament yesterday.

What surprised many was the absence of officials from the respective sports associations, particularly the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

Instead, BAM representatives played delivery men for the day, rushing to fetch the suits of national shuttlers Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik from their homes. The men’s doubles pair had just returned from their Denmark Open outing in Odense.

Some questioned the rush to meet Anwar at Parliament, given that the same players will meet the prime minister again at the Sports Victory Prize Scheme (Shakam) this Friday. And it’s not like there was an Instagrammable corner at the Parliament building, at least not where they gathered.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh was present, along with Datuk Stuart Ramalingam and Datuk Minarwan Nawawi, both part of the Road to Gold (RTG) committee – the ‘top-up’ service providers. National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakub also attended.

The small number of attendees could be due to the limited space. Or perhaps this was strictly an RTG initiative. Or maybe “security” was the concern – though it’s worth noting that getting into Parliament is not as tough as it used to be, with passes now handed out only once visitors are inside the building, rather than at the security post.

Or maybe certain parties simply wanted to create the impression that the champions do matter, especially after Anwar raised eyebrows with his RM15 million allocation to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in Budget 2025 last Friday. Ironically, after announcing the football allocation, Anwar praised the national shuttlers, stating that their performance reflected the spirit of unity.

What deserves reflection is the money spent on developing,  and maintaining elite shuttlers. In 2023, BAM received RM30.413 million from sponsors and subsidies (RM24 million from sponsors and RM6 million subsidies from government bodies). The national body also recieved RM1.439 million from rental income, and another RM2.813 million from other sources of income the same year. That's a total of RM34.665 million.

From that amount, there was a deficit of RM672,883 from organising tournaments. So BAM was left with RM33.99 million in 2023.

From that amount, BAM is forking out approximately RM3.5 million annually on the salaries and fixed bonuses of its elite players. The wages of the other players are about RM2.1 million. BAM spends RM11 million sending the shuttlers for tournaments, and another RM2.2 million on 'player maintenance' which includes meals, shuttlecocks and medical expenses. That's RM18.8 million.

However, in 2025, BAM is expected to spend approximately RM9 million on the wages and fixed bonuses of its elite players alone.

The rest of the money is spent on maintaining Akademi Badminton Malaysia (about RM2.1 million) and grassroots development and youth tournaments (RM10.6 million), among others.

Sports, particularly those producing Olympians, is costly, and naturally, top athletes should be rewarded. However, Malaysia has shown a tendency to favour football – a sport where we currently rank 132nd globally and last qualified for the Olympics 44 years ago – by granting it additional funds, seemingly due to its popularity.

In the professional football world, RM15 million shared between the senior, Under-18, and Under-13 teams is a small sum. But for schools and grassroots programmes, that amount could make a significant impact.

It’s remarkable that public relations practitioner, Christopher Raj, through his PR company, managed to do something the government could have done – providing 200 footballs to 28 Tamil primary schools in Penang. Christopher, who also chairs FAM’s Media, Communications, and Public Relations Committee, hoped the contribution would foster the development of young talents in the state.

Unfortunately, the decision-makers seem to struggle with addressing the basics, opting instead to create illusions. Perhaps one day, the art of magic will become an Olympic sport.

Main image: Anwar Ibrahim / X