BUDGET 2026: OVER RM580 MILLION ALLOCATED TO BOOST NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- The government will continue to strengthen national sports development with an allocation of over RM580 million under Budget 2026, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Finance Minister said the allocation included the enhancement of high-performance sports, including the Road to Gold programme and preparations for the 2027 SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games to be hosted by Malaysia.

It also covers the empowerment of para athletes and deaf sports, maintenance and upgrading of youth and sports facilities nationwide, as well as improvement of school fields under the Ministry of Education.

“This year’s National Day celebration was even more meaningful as the pairings of Chen Tang Jie–Toh Ee Wei and Pearly Tan–Thinaah Muralitharan made history as Malaysia’s first mixed and women’s doubles medallists at the Badminton World Championships.

“Even sweeter, we brought home 25 gold, 16 silver and 11 bronze medals and were crowned overall champions at the 2025 Deaf SEA Games,” he said when tabling Budget 2026 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The Prime Minister also expressed his appreciation to Datuk Latif Romly, who once again broke his own record and won gold in the long jump event at the World Para Athletics Championships.

“The loudest applause goes to all our national heroes and heroines who have brought glory to Malaysia and proudly flown the Jalur Gemilang on the world stage,” he said.

To further encourage national sports development activities, Anwar said the government had agreed to allow organisations approved by the Inland Revenue Board to use part of their income to conduct sports-related activities.

-- BERNAMA