Nur Azmi, who considers it unfair to make such large cuts that put pressure on associations and athletes, has appealed to the National Sports Council and the sports ministry to re-evaluate the adjustment of the allowance.

He said the government could also look at restoring the sports partnership concept by asking government-linked companies to adopt national sporting associations.

“If the GLCs can give a million (ringgit) for each association, it is good enough, and it does not burden the government. There are associations that are rich because their president holds high office, but that’s not the case with others,” he said.

Nur Azmi, who is vice president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, said several associations have already complained about the reduced allowances.

“Full-time athletes have no other income. We don’t want to lose many athletes who may quit or retire early, because they feel pressured to focus on their studies and careers instead,” he said.

“We are envious of other countries that have won Olympic gold (medals) and world championships, yet we do not take care of the welfare of our athletes,” he said.

He said a total of 180 athletes were eligible to compete in Category A (all costs borne) at the SEA Games from May 12-25, but the selection of athletes would only be done after the Chinese New Year festival.

On Wednesday, the National Sports Council said SEA Games and Asean Para Games gold medallists would receive an allowance of RM2,000, while silver and bronze medallists will receive RM800. Senior athletes in the programme who have not won any medal will receive RM800, while back-up athletes will get RM500.

Training allowances for athletes who have won medals at the Asian Games/Asian Para and Commonwealth Games will remain the same: RM4,500 (gold medallists), RM4,000 (silver) and RM3,500 (bronze); while RM7,500 will be given to the winner of an Olympic/Paralympic Games gold, followed by RM7,000 (silver) and RM6,000 (bronze).