Malaysia’s Budget 2025 will be tabled in Parliament on Oct 18, and sports consultant Nur Jasni Mohamed is confident it will be a boon for those in the sports industry.
He said the three things he hopes for are bigger tax breaks for corporate sponsorships, policies that would encourage para-athletes, women, and the community as a whole to become more active in sports, and a ‘handbook’ with a “structured evaluation process” for deciding what events the country should host.
“While there are already tax incentives for corporate sponsorships, these need to be expanded to attract more companies to invest in sports,” said Nur Jasni.
“A more robust incentive structure could provide better support for various sectors, including para-sports and women’s sports, which often receive less attention.
“By enhancing these incentives, Malaysia can encourage greater corporate involvement, driving funding, resources, and expertise into the sports community.”
Nur Jasni said Malaysia has hosted numerous world-class events in the past, such as Formula One, Le Tour de Langkawi, MotoGP, the SEA Games, and the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
However, the decisions to host those events were made on an ad-hoc basis.
“We need to analyse how we arrived at those decisions. They could be case studies for developing a handbook that guides future events,” said Nur Jasni.
“There should be a structured evaluation process that we can follow. A consistent evaluation mechanism will enable stakeholders to assess the impact of sports initiatives.”
He added that this must involve a Whole-of-Society approach as sports tourism is big business and not confined to merely the Youth and Sports Ministry.
“When we host a major Games or event, the tourism, food and beverage, hotel, and various other industries also benefit. If we have a handbook, we can rope in all the relevant parties to work as one,” he added.
Nur Jasni said he was pleased that last year’s budget included tax relief to cover training fees. He added that this would encourage more people to pick up a sport and pay for qualified coaches.
“We won’t necessarily see an immediate increase in elite athletes, but it will increase the number of those participating in sports. Having a bigger pool of active people in sports could lead to us having more talent.”
Another thing he was delighted with was the matching sports grants, which he said was heaven-sent for event organisers.
“The Covid-19 pandemic affected event organisers and gym operators. Many failed to recover and shut down permanently, while others would probably only be back in the black in mid-, to late 2025,” said Nur Jasni.
“With the ministry giving matching grants to sports associations, they could work with event organisers to host tournaments in Malaysia.
“I hope we can improve on these two areas – bigger tax relief for training fees, and larger grants – as they will benefit the country in the long run.”
With a focus on comprehensive incentives, a Whole-of-Society approach, and support for grassroots initiatives, there is potential for significant transformation in Malaysian sports.
