For fair play: Malaysia needs to address the toxic culture of silence and fear in sports if we want want to win big in the global arena. — 123rf
SARINA Sundara Rajah remembers being punished for “gaining” more than 100g in a daily weighing by her coach.
The former national rhythmic gymnast says weight control and daily weighing was used as a punishment when she was still actively training for competitions.
“Due to the constant pressure, I resorted to extreme weight loss measures, such as self-induced vomiting and the use of laxatives to reduce weight before weigh-ins,” recalls Sarina, who has since founded Safe Sport Malaysia to promote safer environments in sports in the country.
This kind of abuse, misconduct and violence in sports is not uncommon – there have been many glaring cases in the media over the years, including sexual harassment and sexual assault.
In 2017, a national diving coach was charged with raping a 20-year-old national diver at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
Last April, a female cyclist accused a national coach of sexual harassment, eventually leading to the latter’s hasty resignation while in February this year, a para swimming coach was accused of sexual misconduct. However, no further action was taken due to a lack of evidence.
It is feared that the actual number of such cases is much higher, says the National Sports Institute of Malaysia researcher Syahirah Fathynah, who argues that there is a culture of silence, fear and normalisation of misconduct in sports.
Sarina points out that there is also currently a gap in data tracking of incidences of sexual violence in sports.
“The overall safety of women in sports requires urgent attention, as gaps in data collection, policy enforcement and cultural stigmas often hinder protection measures.”
The government has already shown its commitment to ensuring the safety of athletes with the introduction of the Safe Sport Code (SSC) in March last year.
The SSC has since been invoked several times in a couple of sexual harassment allegations.
It provides clear guidelines to ensure safety, respect and support in sports and strengthens the reporting mechanism.
In early April, after a female athlete accused a national cycling coach of sexual harassment, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said she would monitor the investigation.
“I want this case to be a template under the SSC on the standard operating procedure (SOP) to handle complaints like this in the future,” Yeoh said.
However, while the SSC is a step in the right direction, experts say there is much more that can be done to untangle this issue.
More women in leadership
Sarina says the reality of violence in sports, highlighted through irrefutable statistics and personal accounts, calls for more than just awareness – it requires actionable solutions.
“As we progress, the focus must shift to a multi-faceted approach that addresses both prevention and support for survivors,” she says.
Sarina: Women leaders often bring distinctive insights into fostering safe, equitable and inclusive environments. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
For example, improving gender diversity in leadership will also mean organisations are better equipped to identify and tackle safeguarding issues, she says.
“Women leaders often bring distinctive insights into fostering safe, equitable and inclusive environments.
“This is evident in case studies from nations like Norway and Australia, where the significant presence of women in sports leadership has been linked to more robust safeguarding frameworks and inclusive policies.”
Toxic culture
Fathynah, as she prefers to be known, stresses that there is also a toxic culture within sports that needs to be addressed.
“Athletes fear not being believed or being blamed or they’re afraid of losing their opportunity.
“Toxic cultures were normalised and the athletes were made to believe that whatever they experience is necessary or is part of the sport.”
Athletes need to learn about their rights and to have confidence in the mechanisms designed to protect them, she says.
“By ensuring athletes fully understand and believe in their rights, we can create a more supportive and proactive environment for tackling misconduct in sports.
“A culture of open communication, mainly about rules of conduct, is crucial for maintaining integrity and fairness in sports.
“Sports organisations can effectively manage and reduce the risk of misconduct while also addressing any issues promptly to avoid lasting damage,” Fathynah says.
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The National Sports Institute has also come up with its own Safe Sports Policy, focusing on four aspects, she says.
The first would be on policy implementation itself, then working on people’s commitment to safer sports via education and training programs, partnerships with others to ensure inclusiveness and create a respectful, harmonious and healthy competitive sports culture and lastly, using evidence-based information to help provide better solutions.
Sarina also acknowledges the existence of a toxic culture within sports, saying there are often conflicts of interest in the world of sports.
“Medals, money, power and reputations are at stake, making it difficult for those within the sports industry to investigate allegations of violence without compromising the integrity of the process,” she says.
This web of interests, she says, is why it is important to establish an independent reporting and adjudication m mechanism to ensure any allegations of misconduct are dealt with impartially, transparently and without interference.
“By removing the power imbalances between sports organisations and individuals, this approach could improve the trust among survivors and whistleblowers, empowering them to come forward and seek justice,” says Sarina.
Sarina also points out that the SSC is merely a guideline based on existing laws in the Penal Code and other acts.
As such, she calls for the implementation of a specific Safe Sport Act.
“Federal laws prosecuting abuse are an essential starting point but sport-specific laws are also needed.
“This approach to specific legislative initiatives has proven especially effective for policymakers in closing legal loopholes and sharpening laws addressing sports abuse.”
She cites the example of the United States’ Safe Sport Act which has successfully bridged the gap between policy and sports and provided tools for sporting organisations to enforce their internal polices to prevent and respond to abuse.
“Too often, we stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we must go upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems.
“We are dealing with a systemic issue and prevention requires proactive policymaking rather than reactive action,” Sarina says.
