KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — The National Sports Council (NSC) has removed a clause requiring pregnant athletes to be dropped from training programmes, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
She added that pregnant athletes can train based on their capabilities.
“Previously, based on their contracts, pregnant athletes would have to stop training, (but we have amended the contracts) and dropped the clause that says those confirmed pregnant cannot undergo training.
“The pregnant athlete may be an archer and her training would be different from other athletes’, so the NSC will assess each case individually so this clause is more woman-friendly,” she told reporters at the launch of Taska Team MAS at the National Sports Institute here today.
Yeoh said female athletes’ contracts have been further improved with seven days of annual leave and seven days of emergency leave, with male athletes gaining seven days of paternity leave.
She said that this is to ensure the national sports support system is more female athlete-friendly, in addition to facilitating their careers as national athletes after they have children.
— Bernama