Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria says national sports association (NSAs) should include financial management as part of its module when training athletes.
Norza, who is also Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president, said an athlete’s career is limited but lucrative. However, many are unable to handle the sudden fame and fortune.
“Not just athletes, even administrators in sports associations need to undergo financial management training,” said Norza.
“OCM, through its Athletes Commission, recently had several sessions with the income tax department as we want to educate athletes about taxes.
“But we need to take this further. Some athletes earn lucrative endorsements and sponsorships. Not many know how to invest their money.
“Associations should make it a point to educate them about this aspect – how much they should spend on their ‘lifestyle’ and how much they should put aside for a rainy day.
“Athletes can become entrepreneurs with the right coaching. Or, if they choose, become administrators in NSAs – which would benefit sports.”
He added NSAs should perhaps implement “forced savings” for their athletes.
“The system should prepare athletes for rainy days. It won’t be all sunshine. Look at how Covid-19 affected sports this year,” said Norza.
“Most athletes get monthly allowances. This doesn’t include bonuses and rewards for winning medals.
“NSAs can set aside 10 per cent of the allowances for an EPF-type scheme and another 10 per cent for insurance. If the athletes want, they can top up the amount from their sponsorship deals or winnings from tournaments.
“Right now, most athletes don’t think too much about insurance or medical bills as they can go to the National Sports Institute for treatment. But what happens when they retire?”
Norza also said he is working closely with the Youth and Sports Ministry to get a pension scheme for former athletes off the ground, but cautioned that athletes shouldn’t depend on the government for money.
He added NSAs should help their athletes finish their education as well.
“At BAM, we encourage the juniors to study for IGCSE while some of the seniors are in local universities. We must move towards complete athletes who are well-rounded and can look after themselves,” Norza added.
Last week, former world rally champion Karamjit Singh was in the news as he has had to become an e-hailing driver to make ends meet.
Youth and Sports Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican had recently told the Dewan Rakyat that his ministry was discussing a pension scheme with various sports organisations and that the proposal would be brought to the Cabinet soon. At present, only athletes who have won Olympic medals are entitled to a pension.
Here’s the round-up of The News Normal today.
OLDIES BUT ARE THEY GOLDIES?
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah announced in a press conference today they can make Malaysia an ‘Asian Tiger’ once again – without revealing how they would do it.
The two frenemies who are working together again said they would not support the third reading of Budget 2021 tomorrow and hinted it would not be approved by Parliament.
As such, they wouldn’t mind stepping in to help the rebuilding process as the rejection would mean the current government does not have a majority, with Dr Mahathir saying: “If everybody supports me, I will be PM tomorrow”.
TWO YOUNG MALAYSIANS’ ANIMATED VIDEO WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Batuh Bijanji (Promise Stone), a 35-second film made by Macgres Sawet and Nabiatul Dania Zulfiqa Mohd Zulfadhli – two Year Five pupils from SK Temong, Serian, Sarawak – won an international award recently.
The Bidayuh language short film won Best Film By Popular Jury in the primary school category of the Alvorada International Schools Film Festival.
TRIO ATTEND PARLIAMENT IN FULL PPE
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and P. Prabakaran (PH-Batu) who are under home surveillance order (HSO) attended the Dewan Rakyat sitting in full personal protective equipment (PPE) today.
The trio was there to vote on the budget for the Federal Territories Ministry which was passed when 110 MPs voted in favour, seven opposed, 31 abstained and 72 were absent.
A majority of the opposition MPs walked out of the bloc voting as they objected to the trio attending Parliament.
PEOPLE ARE JUST ENVIOUS OF FFIRA MIKAH THE GREAT ANGEL
Twentytwo13 senior copy editor Purwaiz Alam cheekily suggests that the people are just envious of Padang Terap District Officer Hakim Ariff Md Noor because he is multilingual.
MESSI BETTER THAN MARADONA. PERIOD
Former Yahoo Malaysia sports editor Prem Kumar is a great admirer of Diego Maradona but is convinced Lionel Messi is from another planet. He lists five reasons why La Pulga should be ranked ahead of D10S.
