The draft of the Safe Sport Act will be ready by December, as revealed in Parliament this morning.
Olympian Noraseela Khalid welcomed the news and says the Act must oversee every aspect of safety in sports, including protecting young boys and girls, and risk management.
“There are those who tend to have a narrow view about safe sports. Some people wonder why it is important, while others may see it as a ‘phase’ associated with sexual harassment against women or girls,” said Noraseela,
president of the Malaysian Olympians Association.
“While we need to protect women and girls, we also need to protect young boys. The Act is crucial in ensuring that there are laws to deal with any form of abuse and ensure that athletes stay safe mentally, emotionally, and physically.”
The former national hurdler, who competed in the 2012 London Olympics, said risk management was equally critical in creating a safe environment for athletes.
“I coach in Kuching. The training venue is shared by my athletes, and footballers, too. Accidents can happen. We must ensure that athletes train in a safe environment to minimise any risk of injury.
“Safe sport also means ensuring athletes who compete in local or international competitions head to the sporting venue, and return safely. These elements should be in the Act as well.”
According to the International Olympic Council’s Consensus Statement (2016), Safe Sport is defined as an “athletic environment that is respectful, equitable and free from all forms of harassment and abuse”.
In 2019, it was widely reported that an anti-harassment and abuse committee was to be set up, led by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) former secretary-general, Datuk Low Beng Choo.
The OCM, via its Women and Sport committee, oversees safe sports and is a vocal advocate of the OCM’s whistleblowing policy.
In a parliamentary reply to Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim (GPS-Batang Lupar), Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu (Bersatu-Tambun) this morning said his ministry viewed sexual harassment issues seriously, especially in the nation’s sports eco-system.
He outlined the action the Youth and Sports Ministry has taken:
i. To develop a detailed Safe Sport Act in managing and eradicating sexual harassment in sports. The draft of the Act will be ready by December.
ii. Creation of a Safe Sport Complaints Unit that comprises representatives from non-governmental organisations. The unit will receive and manage complaints immediately and carry out advocacy programmes among athletes and sports enthusiasts.
iii. To make amendments to Schedules Two and Three of the Sports Development Act 1997 by including safe sports elements in all of the constitutions of sports bodies. This is to ensure that issues relating to sexual harassment are addressed and managed effectively by the sports bodies. The amendments will come into effect by July.
Ahmad Faizal said the National Sports Council (NSC) set up a committee in 2020 to ensure that complaints regarding harassment and abuse were handled in an efficient, effective, and timely manner.
“For athletes training under NSC’s programme, several monitoring mechanisms have been put in place, including spot checks by the sports manager, during training.
“NSC also has closed-circuit television cameras, security checks at all its premises, counselling for athletes and coaches, MACE Careline where the phones operate 24 hours, and a Complaint Box placed at training centres and where the athletes stay,” he added.
In June 2021, Masters swimming world champion Cindy Ong claimed that a coach had inappropriately touched her when she was a teenager and had attempted to rape her when she was older.
Four months later, national diving star Datuk Pandelela Rinong revealed that she was harassed by a former coach and had to endure lewd, sexual jokes from the same person for years.
Following Ong and Pandelela’s revelations, former national bowler Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi, in a cryptic Instagram post in October last year, claimed that she had also experienced similar harassment by someone who was not a coach.
