KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has given its assurance that all aspects will be considered before a decision is made on the offer for Malaysia to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said as stated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim earlier, the matter will be discussed in detail at the Cabinet meeting on Friday, adding that feedback, including views on social media, will be given due consideration.
“We can announce our decision after the Cabinet has discussed the matter. The prime minister has just returned from his visit to Germany, and we expect a lengthy discussion to ensure all aspects are covered,” she said.
She was speaking to reporters after the launch of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2024 at the National Sports Council (MSN) here today.
Yeoh, however, said that if more input is needed, then there is a possibility that a decision could only be reached later.
She was also tight-lipped on whether the suggestion for Malaysia to co-host the Games with Singapore would be considered.
“I cannot preempt the Cabinet discussion, this will only be decided and announced after that,” he said.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has offered Malaysia to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out last year, citing escalating costs.
CGF has also offered a fund injection of £100 million (RM602 million) to Malaysia, which once hosted the games in 1998. Victoria pulled out due to an increase in hosting costs, from the initial expectation of AUD2.6 billion (about RM8.09 billion) to AUD7 billion (RM21.78 billion).
On a separate matter, Yeoh confirmed that KBS’ Cloud application was hacked on Saturday but said there had been no data loss.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said the matter had been reported to the National Cyber Security Agency and Cyber Security Malaysia as soon as it occurred.
“KBS has taken immediate action, and at the moment, the situation is under control through several technical interventions.
“The hacked files only involved several administrative files… it did not involve other parties or personal information,” she said.
Recently, a group identified as ‘R00TK1T’ had claimed on Telegram that it had hacked the KBS Cloud application data.
— Bernama
