PETALING JAYA: Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah wants the state Sukma 2016 (Malaysia Games) contingent to come up with a motto other than "Kita Lawan."
This, he said, would reflect the true spirit of sportsmanship while not carrying any controversial context.
Expressing opposition to the present motto, he explained that "Kita Lawan" may appear to be promoting the agenda of a certain political party.
“I very rarely pass a decree during such functions, however, today I feel compelled to do so for the betterment of sports in the state.
“This is because sports is not specified to a particular religion or race. A person of any gender, age, and religion can be a part of it, and this allows positive interaction," he said at the Selangor Sports Award Night on Friday.
Sultan Sharafuddin said sports was a venue where sportsmen learn to respect one another, in developing a healthy competition and not to be poisoned with political elements.
"I call on all sports organisations as well as athletes to put aside their political preferences and ask from them to never make politics a part of sports management.
“That said, I express my opposition to the motto by the Selangor sports contingent, as it had already been used by a political party and can be misinterpreted as the contingent's intention to involve politics in sports," he said.
PKR recently used #KitaLawan as its rallying call in protests over the jailing of its leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for five years for sodomy.
Sultan Sharafuddin said sports had brought glory to the state from the 60’s to the 80’s and it was the effort of dedicated sportsmen who did not care about incentives and rewards.
“This is the kind of spirit which needs to be carried on, not only by our present athletes but the management as well.
“I was made to understand that we did not perform well in the previous Sukma and to me, this is a significant drop from where we were before,” he said.
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