Asian Games-level team gold rewards rise to RM40,000 per player

Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Dr Taufiq Johari has announced an increase in Asian Games-level gold medal incentives for team events, taking the payment per player from RM15,000 to RM40,000. He announced the revision under the National Sports Incentive Scheme, known as Shakam, following a meeting in Putrajaya with the national sepak takraw squad.

Team silver medallists will receive RM20,000 each, up from RM8,000, while bronze payments rise to RM10,000 from RM4,000. The changes cover all team sports and extend to competitions held earlier in the year. Individual rewards are unchanged: RM80,000 for gold, RM40,000 for silver and RM20,000 for bronze.

National tekong Syahir Rosdi expressed gratitude for the decision. He had recently highlighted the difference between team and individual incentives on social media, saying he wanted to correct a public misconception that each player received RM80,000 and encourage the authorities to review the rates.

Syahir was among the players who won Malaysia’s sepak takraw team gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, breaking a 36-year wait. He said the squad had competed knowing the gold incentive was RM15,000 per player.

The 30-year-old described the timing of the increase as a blessing as he and his wife, Ain Athalia, await their first child. She is eight months pregnant. Malaysia Sepak Takraw Federation president Datuk Sumali Reduan welcomed the decision, saying team-event incentive rates had not been revised for 24 years.