June 25, 2009 18:56

PMKUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Bernama)– The Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) will send its athletes to the World Athletics Championships in Berlin despite the global Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak.

MAAU deputy president Karim Ibrahim said it was to avoid the International Athletic Association Federation (IAAF) from blacklisting teams that avoid the competition.

“We do not want to deprive national athletes a chance to compete in the World Championships due to H1N1, because it may affect their future career if the IAAF decides to blacklist them,” he told Bernama when contacted here Thursday.

Karim said the National Sports Council (NSC) was not in favour of sending athletes for overseas competitions but in contrast, NSC had decided to send a team for the Asian Youth Games in Singapore, a country which has been listed among countries affected by H1N1, unlike Germany.

Karim who is also the MAAU Coaching and Development committee chairman said if NSC refuse to fund national athletes’ participation in the World Championships in Berlin, MAAU would source its own funds to send the team for the competition scheduled from Aug 15-23.

He added that national women pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu and high jump ace Lee Hup Wei had also been barred from undergoing a six-week training stint in Germany which was supposed to help prepare them for the World Championships.

“If athletes continue to train among themselves here, it will not take them far, especially when facing stiff competition in international meets. It will also hamper their confidence physically and mentally,” said Karim.

Karim added that as the Union aspires to win more medals at the Laos SEA Games in December, preventing national athletes from competing at high level competitions overseas would affect their performances.

Roslinda won the women’s pole vault gold while Hup Wei clinched the men’s high jump gold at the Korat SEA Games in 2007.