Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has been given the task by Malaysian Athletics Association (KOM) to host the 16th SEA Youth Athletics Championship at the Likas Stadium scheduled on November 21-25.
This was announced by KOM president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim at a soft opening ceremony held at the Sabah International Conference Centre (SICC) on Thursday.
He said the five-day event will be attended by 11 Southeast Asian regional countries namely Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Timor Leste and Malaysia.
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin who was present said more than 500 athletes from the 10 countries are expected to participate with an additional 100 or more from the Malaysian contingent.
“We expect the number to be higher as the figure does not include team officials,” he said.
He added that works to replace the existing track surface and upgrading of facilities inside the stadium will begin immediately with RM12.24 millions funding from the State government.
“Yesterday I presented a paper during the Cabinet meeting, and I must thank the State government for approving RM12.24 million to upgrade the track, and the facilities at the stadium.
“We will be starting work immediately to ensure the job will be completed as early as possible based on the requirements set by the Malaysia Athletics Federation and World Athletics (WA),” he said.
Meanwhile, Shahidan called on all parties concerned to focus their work to ensure the track will be completed on time and it will be up to the mark for the championship.
He also said that Sabah will be hosting the Super Series final preceded by five series meets next year.
The domestic competition organised by KOM was introduced this year that offers prize money to the top eight athletes in an event.
Meanwhile, also present at the ceremony were Sabah Sports Council director Asneh Mohd Noor, Sabah Sports Board General Manager Terrance Edward Pudin and Sabah Athletics Association 2022 president Mohamat Hassan.
