Malaysia naturalizes a series of athletes to compete at SEA Games 33

Two days ago, in a statement about the naturalization plan, Malaysia's Minister of Sports and Youth, Ms. Hannah Yeoh, publicly announced her intention to naturalize a series of foreign athletes for weightlifting, shooting, tennis, and basketball teams...

She stated that the goal is to improve the competitiveness of the country's sports, first of all at the 33rd SEA Games: "The purpose of naturalizing athletes is to help them improve their achievements in Malaysian sports. Naturalization will be carried out for all sports, from weightlifting, basketball, diving, shooting, to athletics.

Some international federations do not prohibit the use of naturalized athletes in their teams. Therefore, Malaysia requires naturalized athletes to comply with all relevant laws and regulations.”

The statement quickly turned into action. The Malaysian Basketball Federation has just applied for naturalization for three foreign players, one for the women's team and two for the men's team. They are Tychique Bosango, a player of Congolese origin, Joseph Obasa from Nigeria and Aalia Carlson from the United States.

By bringing in a series of foreign stars, Malaysia promises to threaten its direct opponents, including Vietnam. In the 5-a-side women's basketball event, Vietnam hopes to win a medal at the 33rd SEA Games. The team considers Malaysia or Thailand as its main rivals in the race. In fact, at the 32nd SEA Games, Vietnam was only 1 victory behind Malaysia to complete the goal of winning a bronze medal.

In general, the sports that Malaysia recruited “mercenaries” are all sports that they are underdeveloped in. At the most recent Games, Malaysia ranked last in basketball with only 1 bronze medal, ranked last in weightlifting with 0 gold medals, 0 silver medals and only 1 bronze medal, while Vietnam won with 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals…

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/malaysia-nhap-tich-hang-loat-vdv-de-tranh-tai-o-sea-games-33-post1768115.tpo