Dato Rahman Lariwoo
KUCHING (Jan 28): Sarawak Amateur Boxing Association (SABA) president Dato Rahman Lariwoo fully supports the effort by the Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah in proposing for Sarawak to organise and host the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in 2024.
According to Rahman, Sarawak deserves to host the Games once again as the state has good sports facilities and it being internationally recognised as a good venue for sports events.
In addition, he points out that other facilities such as hotels, transportation and places to eat are ‘aplenty and enough’ to meet the needs of contingents from other states coming to Sarawak.
“On behalf of SABA, we are proud of the minister’s effort of bringing Sukma to Sarawak in 2024.
“Of course, we are very supportive of this effort because we believe that Sarawak is capable of hosting the country’s prestigious Games.
“I believe the state government would definitely support the organisation of Sukma here because it is in line with Sarawak’s vision of becoming a sports powerhouse in Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
Rahman said should Sarawak be the host, it would definitely be the best opportunity to reclaim the overall Sukma championship title, which was last won in 1994 during the Perak edition.
In this regard, he said SABA and other sports associations were determined to give their best in ensuring that Sarawak athletes would win the gold medals and realise the dream of regaining the Sukma overall championship title.
Abdul Karim, in a recent event here, said Sarawak was ready to host Sukma 2024 if no state wanted to become the host.
He said this after learning that Johor, which was supposed to be the host, rejected the offer to organise the 21st edition of the biennial Games.
The matter, said Abdul Karim, was discussed during a ‘Youth and Sports Exco’ meeting with the federal Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh.
The last time Sarawak hosted the Sukma was in 2016, where the Bumi Kenyalang contingent finished second overall behind Selangor, with a difference of only two gold medals.