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Adopt Road to Gold’s contract-first approach to avoid repeat of Cheah Liek Hou reward row
BANGI, Sept 20 — The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) has urged the Paralympic Council Malaysia (MPM) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to emulate the Road to Gold (RTG) Committee’s approach in managing sponsorships and athlete rewards to prevent issues such as the one faced by para-athlete Cheah Liek Hou from recurring.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said RTG had taken proactive steps by ensuring all rewards promised by sponsors to athletes were formalised in official contracts before meets began.
“During the Paris Olympic Games, many companies offered RM1 million and various rewards if our athletes won a gold medal at the prestigious Games.
“What RTG did was to get all these sponsors to sign contracts. I now see a need for the Olympic Council of Malaysia and Paralympic Council Malaysia to follow the same approach if they have not already done so,” she said.
She said this to reporters after officiating the 20th Convocation Ceremony of the Youth and Sports Skills Training Institute (ILKBS) here today.
Earlier, the media reported that Cheah had accused MPM of being ‘dishonest’ on social media for failing to deliver the RM60,000 cash incentive promised to him after winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games.
The frustration voiced by the national para-badminton ace also drew Yeoh’s attention, who disagreed with the way MPM had handled the matter, particularly by issuing a show-cause letter against him.
According to Yeoh, the issue involving Cheah should not have been blown out of proportion or treated as though the athlete had committed a disciplinary offence when he was merely demanding what had been promised.
She also stressed that athletes like Cheah had brought glory to the country and should not be penalised simply for expressing disappointment over the delay or failure in delivering the promised rewards.
“To me, this matter is very simple. We don’t need a middleman. If a promise is made, it must be kept. If it cannot be fulfilled, then state the reasons and improve from there. There is no need to go as far as banning the athlete,” she said.
Yeoh added that KBS would not support any move to suspend or take disciplinary action against Cheah, stressing that it was time to improve the existing governance system.
MPM president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin was reported as saying that the council would consider legal action against Cheah, following his public statement on social media which allegedly tarnished its credibility and jeopardised future sponsorships.
According to Megat, the council would not hesitate to suspend Cheah from participating in future major events.
