MSN To Hold Financial Management Programme For Malaysian Paralympic Athletes

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 10 (Bernama) -- The National Sports Council (MSN) will conduct a financial management programme for paralympic athletes who received the Athletes Incentive Scheme (Shakam) following their success at the Rio Paralympic Games. MSN director-general Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said the programme was to help the athletes concerned to manage their finances well and towards this end, MSN would also hold discussions with their families. He said the programme would commence next month and would be handled by financial management experts, while MSN would provide guidance on personal care and public relations. "They are now in the public eye, so we must instil in them various aspects including personal care and public relations, besides commitment to the general public," he told reporters at the Junior Cycling Malaysia Championship, here, Sunday. Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin presented the prizes to the winners in the championship, which was organised to unearth new talents to be absorbed into the national cycling sport development. On Saturday, paralympic athletes Abdul Latif Romly and Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli each received US$253,010 (RM1.05 million) for winning the goal medal at the Rio Paralympics. They created new world records in their respective events, namely the T20 long jump (learning disability) and F20 shot put (learning disability), thus receiving an additional incentive. Another athlete, Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi, who won the gold medal and renewed the Paralympic Games record, also received an additional incentive, bringing the total to US$245,781 (RM1.02 million). Siti Noor Radiah Ismail who contributed the bronze medal in the T20 long jump event, received US$72,295 (RM300,000) in additional incentive from the Youth and Sports Ministry. Shapawi, meanwhile, also lauded the Malaysian government's plan to consider an additional allocation for sports in the 2017 Budget so that the development of this sector could be more systematically implemented. "The announcement by Prime Minister Najib Razak gave a clear message that sports have been successful in making a strong impact on society, and MSN appreciates it," he said. --BERNAMA