KUCHING: Sarawak welcomes private sector initiatives to support the development of sports, particularly among young people, says Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The state Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister said this could be done by organising events or making financial donations to sports associations.
"We hope the private sector will play its part and assist in sports development.
"Looking at the Sarawak Regatta, I see many corporate bodies want to be involved.
"I hope they will also be involved in other sports, especially those involving youths, including football," he said here on Wednesday (Sept 11).
In this respect, Abdul Karim welcomed the inaugural PETRONAS Youth Football Closed Tournament 2024 to be held here from Saturday (Sept 14) to Nov 16 as a platform to promote youth and sports development in collaboration with his ministry.
"We want to develop sports from a young age and this tournament will create a deeper interest in football among youths.
"We hope other corporate bodies will also support various sports or adopt other tournaments to boost the development of sports in Sarawak," he added.
The event is a pilot tournament organised by PETRONAS in collaboration with the Kuching District Football Association, Kuching City Football Association and Sarawak Sports Corporation as technical and facilities partners.
It is part of PETRONAS' commitment to nurture young talents within a structured environment and sets the stage for future full-scale tournaments.
Participation in the tournament is by invitation only, involving 56 teams from 23 football academies and schools from Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman.
The teams will compete in four age categories: Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16.
