PUTRAJAYA, Jan 19 — The National Sports Trust Fund (KWASN), an initiative of the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS), will be expanded this year to include independent athletes wishing to participate in national and international-level sports competitions.
KBS secretary-general K. Nagulendran said the decision comes after complaints by independent athletes about not getting any funding when competing in international tournaments.
“So, we heard their grievances, and they can now apply under the KWASN, provided the tournament is recognised by the National Sports Council (NSC).
“When they go overseas, we will refer to the current rates set by the NSC in providing them with assistance,” he said during a press conference at Menara KBS today.
Nagulendran also encouraged registered sports bodies under the Sports Commissioner’s Office (PJS) wishing to hold national-level sports competitions to apply for KWASN grants.
Meanwhile, the allocation for the Sports Matching Grant (GPS) has been increased to RM50 million this year compared to RM40 million last year.
He said the matching grant, with the provision of a maximum of 50 per cent or not exceeding RM1 million from the actual allocation of each programme, is given to host high-performance impact sports development programmes at the state and national levels.
“There were 925 GPS applications last year, but only 427 were approved because the allocation was limited to RM40 million.
“The response last year was very encouraging, so we are continuing it this year, but we want to have more sports and focus on high impact and high specification sports,” Nagulendran said.
— Bernama
