eSports, lion dance to be elevated as sports

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) intends to recognise eSports and lion dance as official sports in the Sports Development Act 1997 (Act 576).

Its Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said for that purpose, his ministry would propose an amendment to Act 576 so that eSports and lion dance could be better governed.

According to him, the two sports are not mentioned as a sport category, although it basically belongs to recreational sports, especially lion dance which has its own discipline, art and training.

"The approval of this amendment will be sought by the Sports Commissioner (PJS) and we have amended this Sports Act twice before, where we have included several sports during the amendments in 2000 and 2004.

"For more than 10 years there has been no update, and given the current state of sports to be more sophisticated and specific, amendments are necessary so that the associations established reflect the sports that have been recognised," he told reporters after launching the new look of Sungei Wang Plaza and the National Traditional Lion Dance Competition here today.

When asked about other sports besides eSports and lion dance which are in the offing to be officially recognised as sports, Ti said the matter would be announced later.

"We will leave it to PJS to review the registrations that have been made by existing sports (for official inclusion) and those managed by an association, but are not listed in the Sports Development Act 1997," he said.

Currently, there are 48 sports listed in Act 576 including archery, athletics, motor-sports, fitness, paralympics, football, hockey, badminton, traditional sports, rowing, water sports, silat, wushu, kabbadi, netball and bicycle racing.

Regarding the National Traditional Lion Dance competition, a total of 21 teams from Klang Valley, Melaka, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang are taking part in the two-day event which started today.

-- BERNAMA