IPOH: The Sabah men’s and women’s futsal contingent has decided to withdraw from the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2018 after one of its athletes was confirmed infected with the mumps virus.
In a statement issued by state sports committee chairman Howard Lee Chuan How on Tuesday (Sept 11), he said the test results on a 16-year-old female athlete came back positive.
He said the results were received on Monday (Sept 10) night from the Sungai Buloh National Public Health Laboratory.
‘We held a meeting with the National Sports Council director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, Sabah Sports Council representative, representatives from the Health Ministry, and the state health department to come up with a decision.
“It was unanimously decided to give a chance to the Futsal contingent to change their athletes so that they could still participate in Sukma.
“However the Sabah contingent decided to withdraw from the meet due to the possible risk of spreading the virus to other teams during the competition,” he added.
Sukma XIX is being held in Perak from Sept 11 and ends on Sept 22.
