MHC IN NEED OF AT LEAST RM2 MLN TO PREPARE INDOOR HOCKEY SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP - SUBAHAN

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) would require at least RM2 million to manage the expenses and expenditure involved in the management of the National Men’s Indoor hockey squad that qualified for the 2025 World Cup in Porec, Croatia for the first time from Feb 3 to 9, next year.

MHC President Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said the proposed amount would also be used to prepare the men’s and women’s indoor hockey teams for the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand 2025 as both the squads are targetted to bring back gold medals.

Subahan said the National body will have a discussion with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and its Minister Hannah Yeoh soon.

“…we are talking about a two-million figure to be strong. Its not for salary but its to prepare them because when travelling, flight tickets will be expensive. The indoor hockey teams do not have a special allocation and neither do they have a proper training place.

“However, now we have found a suitable location for the team’s training, maybe in Bukit Jalil, and I will have a meeting with Hannah and the Malaysia Stadium Corporation (PSM) soon,” he said.

Subahan was speaking to reporters at an event held at a leading hotel in the city to celebrate the success of the National Men’s and Women’s Indoor Hockey squads that performed exceptionally well at the 2024 Asia Cup Men’s and Women’s Indoor Hockey Championships recently.

At the event, the players from the men’s team that emerged as the runner-up at the 2024 Asia Cup held in Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan last month, received RM5,000 each as incentives while players from the women’s team that finished third at the 2024 Asia Cup in Chonburi, Thailand received RM2,500 each.

The men’s indoor hockey squad had been hoping to be included in National Sports Council’s training programme ahead of the 2025 World Cup to undergo a structured training programme.

— BERNAMA