KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — The National Sports Council (NSC) and the Youth and Sports Ministry can heave a sigh of relief now that all the individuals who reported for centralised training on Monday under the Road to Tokyo (RTT) programme have been certified free of Covid-19.

NSC director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said today that the compulsory swab tests on all 24 individuals, who include athletes, coaches and support staff, at the Langkawi National Sailing Training Centre were negative.

Yesterday, he confirmed that similar tests on the 38 individuals in the national badminton squad at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara were also negative.

"All training sessions at these two training centres will follow the set standard operating procedure,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, another 146 individuals including 14 athletes and 26 para athletes are expected to check into the training camp at NSC in Bukit Jalil here on Monday.

Athletes under the RTT programme, whether they have qualified or are still trying to earn their tickets to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have been given special permission by the government to begin training on June 1. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to July next year and the Paralympics, the following month. — Bernama