Malaysia’s number one male squash player Nafiizwan Adnan is disappointed with National Sports Council (NSC) after being informed that he would not be sponsored if he is to be based abroad.
Nafiizwan is currently under the elite program and has requested his expenses to be covered if he continues to train abroad in order to boost his gold medal chances in Australia’s 2017 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
However, the Terengganu born has been told that NSC would not be able to sponsor him, and that he would have to bear his own expenditures if he were to train in Europe.
“I was due to leave to Manchester for three years, in preparation for Asian and Commonwealth Games.”
“But NSC has informed me that I have to cover my own financials if I were to train there.”
“This should not be the case, as athletes under the elite program are to receive full funding from NSC,” he told Harian Metro.
Nafiizwan, who was based in London from 2007-2011, also added that he lacks quality sparring partners here in Malaysia, which contributed to his recent dip in form.
“I had to return to Malaysia after my coach (Peter Genever) became the national head coach. After a few years, I realized my performance level has decreased due to the shortage of sparring players.”
“Nicol is fully funded by NSC, why not me? Manchester is a great place for me to further polish myself, and I do hope NSC will re-consider my decision to return to Europe.”
Despite exiting the Macau Open recently, former Asian champion Nafiizwan showed a glimpse of his potential when he knocked out favorite Omar Mosaad in the quarter finals.
WHAT DO WE THINK?
Nafiizwan surely has a valid argument here. He might not be as successful as Nicol is, but he certainly deserves a chance. If NSC is able to finance Nicol abroad, we don’t see why Nafiizwan is left out, considering he is our number one squash player in the male category. Some may think it is a waste of money, but in the long run, it will all be worth it if Nafiizwan manages to win a gold medal for the country in the Commonwealth and Asian Games, as he claims.
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