Sukma 2024: Perak dangles RM5,000 reward for gold medal, bonus for coaches, managers

IPOH (July 25): The Perak state government is offering a monetary reward of RM5,000 to athletes who win a gold medal at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak through its victory incentive scheme.

State Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports Committee chairman, Khairudin Abu Hanipah said a silver medallist will receive RM3,000 while a bronze medallist will get RM1,000.

“For team events, a gold medal means each will receive RM2,500, RM1,500 each for silver and RM500 each for bronze,” he said at a special meeting of the 2024 Perak Sukma contingent here this afternoon.

Khairudin said that for this edition, the state government also agreed to continue awarding incentives to coaches and managers, which was first offered in the 2022 edition of Sukma.

He said a team coach will receive 30 per cent of the highest medal value while the team manager receives 20 per cent of the highest medal value won.

“For example, if a team strikes gold, the reward for a gold medal is RM5,000, then the coach will be get RM1,500 to encourage them to continue producing winners because behind every athlete’s success there is a coach and manager who sacrificed a lot,” he said.

Living up to the battle cries of “Belang Tarung Tiga Warna” and “Silver to Gold”, the Perak Sukma contingent is on a mission in this edition to target 35 gold medals and finishing top five overall among the 14 competing states.

For this biennial sports carnival from Aug 17-24 in Sarawak, Khairudin hopes Perak’s team of 900 athletes (516 men, 384 women) will uphold the image of the state by showing high discipline.

“Use this opportunity to qualify for the national team and face bigger challenges at the regional and international levels,” he said. – Bernama