SHAH ALAM, Nov 19 — From next year, Para Malaysian Games (Sukma) athletes’ preparations will be overseen by the Selangor State Sports Council (MSNS) to ensure athletes with disabilities achieve greater heights.
State executive councillor for youth, sports and entrepreneurship Mohd Najwan Halimi said that currently, only sports under the Malaysian Paralympic Council are recognised as high-performance events, leading to limited participation from athletes with disabilities as they join events by category.
“To ensure preparations run smoothly, the state government is channelling special funds for the Para Sukma contingent, which is aligned with the mainstream Sukma contingent’s.
“Even though the ‘high-performance sports’ status is only given to para-athletes, this doesn’t mean the state government is sidelining hearing-impaired or Special Olympics athletes. The state government still channels support and aid for them based on their needs and suitability of their programmes,” Najwan said when winding up the Supply Enactment Bill 2026 at the Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting here today.
He added that no para-athletes have been sidelined from joining events at higher stages, and that the state ensures allocations to prepare the Para Sukma contingent is equal to athletes in the high-performance category.
Sukma Selangor 2026 will be held from August 15 to 24, followed by Para Sukma Selangor 2026 from September 5 to 14. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Stadium, respectively.
Next year’s edition will see 474 events in 37 sports, comprising 30 core sports like rugby and seven additional sports like e-sports, cricket, and silambam.
The events will be hosted across Selangor’s nine districts by its 12 local authorities, except for track cycling, which will be held at the National Velodrome in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
