KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 ― Serious consideration will be given to reinstating sepak takraw on the country’s list of core sports, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.

He said the national sepak takraw team’s golden achievement at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia was among the factors that have strengthened its claim to be put back on the list.

"I don’t have details as to why the sport was taken off the list in 2017, together with weightlifting and taekwondo. The matter (consideration) will be jointly looked into by the ministry, Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM) and National Sports Council (NSC),” he told a press conference after officiating the 2020 Sepak Takraw League (STL) at the Titiwangsa Stadium here today.

Earlier, PSM president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail said in his speech that efforts to empower the sport at the grassroots levels could only be successfully implemented if sepak takraw was back on the list of the country’s core sports.

The NSC dropped sepak takraw, weightlifting and taekwondo from the country’s list of core sports in 2017 following their poor performances as well as their failure to show any improvement since 2007. ― Bernama