Weightlifting body seeks RM1mil annual grant after five Commonwealth golds

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (PABM) has appealed to the government to approve an annual grant of RM1 million, after the national squad claimed five gold medals at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Its president, Datuk Ayub Rahmat, said the historic showing was the strongest argument that the sport — now the country's biggest contributor of gold medals — deserved priority attention.

"It is not about me and it is not about the PABM Exco. I am tired myself. What matters is the future of this sport," he said.

"At the very least we have opened the public's eyes that it is time for sports that can truly deliver medals for the country to be given priority."

Ayub said weightlifting faced different challenges from most other sports because it is not part of the school co-curriculum, forcing the federation to scout its own talent to be moulded into elite athletes.

He said current athletes were ageing and the search for successors could no longer be delayed if Malaysia wanted to remain competitive at the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics.

"We need funds for management, development and talent identification programmes. State associations are also facing financial constraints. If we do not start investing now, who will replace the current athletes in a few years?" he said.

Nutrition a pressing concern

Ayub said weightlifters needed quality nutrition to support high-intensity training, but limited budgets made this difficult even as they were expected to bring home gold.

"Even in boarding schools, food allowances are already more than RM20 a day. Weightlifters need chicken, meat and protein sources every day. Some eat up to 10 eggs a day, but with a RM30 budget we are asked to bring home gold medals. For the Commonwealth level it has only just gone up to RM70," he said.

He added that the allocation for hosting the national championships, at about RM35,000, was far from sufficient when actual costs approached RM100,000.

"We are asked to find new talent, but the allocation is insufficient. If we want to produce more champions, the national championships must be strengthened because that is where we spot successors," he said.

Ayub also disclosed that he had often paid out of his own pocket for federation matters, including flight tickets, hotels, meals and management costs for competitions at home and abroad.

"We are not asking for much. Give us a RM1 million grant a year. With the five gold medals we won, I think the request is not excessive. Weightlifting has proven we are also a medal mine for the country," he said.