Post-retirement financial security beyond the neon lights for special breed of Malaysians

A COMPREHENSIVE pension scheme is in the offing for the nation’s elite athletes, finally.

This is following the decision by the Youth and Sports Ministry to review the training allowance structure and allow the athletes to contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso).

While the quantum has yet to be finalised, it shall provide financial security beyond the neon lights for the special breed of Malaysians who compete at the highest level – in both Olympic and non-Olympic sports.

Credit to the present Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh, for announcing this when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2024 at the committee stage for the Ministry at the Dewan Rakyat last week.

For decades, various stakeholders have made the call for the Government to provide a post-retirement scheme for athletes.

The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) had earlier proposed an expanded pension scheme for national athletes modelled after the OCM trust fund, with their president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria proposing input on annuity programmes and insurance schemes from the private sector to reduce dependency on Government funding.

The idea to expand the scheme was basically to include non-Olympians as the current pension scheme pays out RM5,000, RM3,000 and RM2,000 monthly for athletes who win gold, silver or bronze respectively at the Olympics and Paralympics.

The original pension scheme was approved by the Cabinet Committee for Sports Development when Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was the Sports Minister in 2005. Prior to that, athletes were rewarded with a lump sum according to the National Sports Incentives Scheme (Shakam) introduced in 1986 but revised in 1994 and 2008.

Under Shakam, every athlete who wins a gold medal at the Olympics or Paralympics will receive an incentive of RM1mil, followed by RM300,000 for silver and RM100,000 for bronze.

Shakam rewards medallists at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, SEA Games and individual world championships too, as a total of RM2.8mil to 103 athletes was disbursed in a ceremony on Thursday.

Cynics may suggest the reward may imply a culture of extravagant largesse and extraordinary generosity but others feel the nation’s cream of the crop should be amply rewarded by a grateful nation.

The idea of an EPF-based scheme was first brought up in the 1990s, with a Sports Provident Fund proposed as the number of athletes turning professional began to increase.

The intention was for the athletes to contribute as much as 70% of their extra earnings or incentives to the SPF and part withdrawals could be done upon retirement and full withdrawals upon reaching the age of 55, depending on their status.

Some suggested investment in the Amanah Saham Nasional or in the case of bumiputra athletes, the Amanah Saham Bumiputra. The athlete should be allowed to withdraw the interest on the principal invested every year or as and when required.

Additionally, offering privileged access to medical treatment further recognises the distinct needs of our athletes, without having to rely on contributions from the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb).

In 2009, Mohd Abdul Hadi, a former hockey Olympian, made the call for a pension scheme through Yakeb as the group insurance scheme was deemed insufficient as they are given out upon their death.

Interestingly, the Sabah State government through the State Youth and Sports Ministry began to implement the EPF Contribution Programme for Sabah athletes early this year.

Popular sports such as football, badminton and hockey have a mechanism in place to reward the players in the long run.

Since the semi-pro days, footballers have been contributing to the EPF regardless of their status while the Malaysian Hockey Foundation initiated by the late Sultan Azlan Shah offered financial aid and retirement benefits for players.

As the employers, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) contributed 12% of the athletes’ training allowance to EPF.

Unlike the common individual, the future income of an athlete cannot be predicted as they are exposed to injuries and dip in performance which can end their career in a jiffy.

As of now, an active medallist at the Olympic Games receives a monthly allowance ranging from RM6,500 to RM7,000. If they are in the Road to Gold (RTG) programme, they receive an additional RM3,000.

Malaysian athletes at the top of the apex have never had it so good. The public, likewise, expect the returns in the foreseeable future.