Tawfiq: Sports complex and 10 soccer fields planned
Published on: Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said the State government has approved a proposal to build the Tuaran Sports Complex in Sulaman, which will see a total of ten football fields being developed as part of their effort to set up a State Football Academy.According to him, they were unable to proceed with the building of the complex at the actual location in Tamparuli two years ago due to the quality of soil which is considered inappropriate for playing football."Based on a land survey we conducted earlier, we have found that it is a flood-prone area and the soil is too soft," he said, adding that they have identified a new location for the building of the complex which is at Kg Laya-Laya Tuaran.
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However, Tawfiq said the land they identified at Kg Laya-Laya belonged to the Federal government and not the State government. The good news is that, he said, 100 acres of the land have been given to the Youth and Sports Ministry this year for the building of the complex. "And by right the allocation which was given to us for the building of the complex in Tamparuli earlier will be returned to the Finance Ministry," he said in reply to Tamparuli Assemblyman Datuk Wilfred Bumburing during the question and answer session. Tawfiq said that the government through his Ministry has come up with various plans to develop football in the State.
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"Under the Rural Development Transformation Initiative, the Youth and Sports Ministry has upgraded a total of 36 rural football fields from 2013 to 2015."Often, youths in rural areas have been complaining that they are unable to play football because of lack of basic sports infrastructure and if there is a field available, the soil is too soft or uneven," he said, adding that the complexes built in the interior are located far away from their homes.
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Besides that, the ministry through the Sabah Sport Board has also provided a total of 13 sports complexes with complete sports facilities including football fields, he added. The Malaysia Talent Identification Development (MYTiD) is the latest approach to identify and screen talents among young Malaysian children as young as seven. Sabah has targeted a total of 10,000 pupils and students involving 89 schools, he said. "Our target is to have 20 per cent of the total figure of pupils and students chosen to undergo multilateral training phases which will be set up in the near future. "To date, the total amount of registered pupils and students is 7,988, involving 4,158 boys and 3,830 girls," he said. A total of 28 female athletes and eight male athletes from Sabah have been included in the National School of Sports Programme.As a result of the Malaysia Football Development Programme, Tawfiq said they have managed to produce two main players in the Under 13 football squad.The players who are from Tawau and Semporna were given exposure to play football against children their age from Europe."They managed to beat Queens Park Rangers Under 13 team, 1-0, West Ham United, 2-1 and Crystal Palace 7-0 … and hopefully, they will be our future national football players," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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