KUALA LUMPUR, 22 May 2018:
The National Sports Council (NSC) has reiterated that it does not owe any allowance to former gymnast Nur Eli Ellina Azmi – who alleged she did not receive allowances for almost six months after the KL SEA Games last year.
NSC director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said athletes only received allowances if they received a contract from NSC, subject to being selected by the respective sporting associations with the endorsement of other stakeholders such as the National Sports Institute and Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).
He explained that it was unreasonable for Nur Eli Ellina to claim any allowance from November 2017 to January 2018, as she was not under any NSC programme at the time.
“Based on the letter received from the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation dated Nov 5, only three names, namely Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Tan Ing Yueh and Tracie Ang were listed, while Nur Azira Aziri was listed to meet the quota given by the OCM for the women’s gymnastics team at the Commonwealth Games.
He also explained the athlete’s contract under the Kita Juara Programme 2017 ended on 31 Aug 2017, whereby the allowances were only paid as of August, while the months of September and October were considered as a ‘cooling-off period’, and none of the athletes had received any new contracts at that point.
Meanwhile, Nur Eli Ellina when contacted, claimed that to her understanding, there was still a slot open for the Commonwealth Games at the time, prompting her to undergo training as usual from November to January, while awaiting the contract.
“I waited for a contract from MSN until the end of January, but no contract was offered, and I decided to retire.”
– Bernama