KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — The National Sport Institute (ISN) must be seen as an institution providing numerous services related to sports science to national athletes and not as “just a massage centre” for them, said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Hee said most national sport associations had a tendency to see ISN as the final reference centre to treat their injured athletes.
“Some sports associations still regard ISN merely as a massage centre...when an athlete is injured, he will go to ISN...only seeks out ISN when injured.
“ISN is more than a clinic to our athletes...ISN is the start of everything for sports in our country. If our sports development is not carried out in a systematic manner we will not scale the pinnacle of success,” he said.
He said this to reporters after officiating a pre-launch of the 2015-2025 ISN Strategic Plan at Dewan Perdana here, today.
Meanwhile, Khairy said the 4-0 win by the Harimau Muda A squad (National Under 23 side) against Laos in the 2014 Asia Games at the Ansan Wa Stadium, South Korea on Wednesday would boost the spirits of the players against Saudi Arabia.
He said although Saudi Arabia was expected to give a stiff competition to the squad under Datuk Ong Kim Swee, he was confident they would give their best performance at the final action in Group A at Goyang Stadium, South Korea, this Sunday.
“Although, certain quarters regard the win (4-0) as easy, it is important pychologically so that the national players learned from their mistakes when facing South Korea, previously.
“We must have a confidence-booster..otherwise, hard to win, so yesterday’s win is important,” he said. — Bernama
