Leading sportswriters representing 25 Asian countries will be attending the AIPS ASIA Congress Kuala Lumpur 2017, hosted by the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM), from February 27 to March 3.
The Congress, which has the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, has attracted over 80 delegates for the four-day event. With several weeks more before the event is staged, more delegates are likely to sign up.
“Hosting the AIPS ASIA Congress is a major milestone in SAM’s history,” said SAM President, Ahmad KhawariMd Isa, who is also a Vice-President of AIPS ASIA. “We are honoured to have the privilege to host this event.”
For the record, AIPS ASIA is the Asian affiliate of the Association Internationale de la Press Sportive (AIPS), which is the world’s governing body for sportswriters. AIPS is recognised by the IOC, FIFA, IAAF, FINA and many other world sports bodies.
“We were always keen to host this event but it only became a reality when YB Brig Jen Khairy Jamaluddin, our nation’s dynamic Youth and Sports Minister, agreed to support SAM.
“I must also thank our sponsors for their awesome assistance. To 100PLUS, our loyal and long-time sponsor, and also Telekom Malaysia Berhad, MRCB, Badminton Asia, Purple League and the Asian Football Confederation, thank you for stepping up and assisting us,” Khawari said.
“The selection of Malaysia as the host was decided at the Congress in Bahrain last year. From the various reports I have received and from what I have seen so far, I am delighted with the level of preparations,” said AIPS ASIA President, Muhammad Qassim, who helped unveil the AIPS Asia Congress KL 2017 logo today.
“The Congress in Kuala Lumpur is important because this is the first congress after the election of the new leadership for AIPS Asia in Bahrain. I have full confidence with the ability of SAM president, MrKhawari, and his team who have been working tirelessly to make sure this event is a huge success.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Qassim said that AIPS Asia had been actively working on improving the standard of sports journalism in the continent by organising various courses, this included a special workshop for women sports journalists which was held in Kuala Lumpur in September last year.
“Following the tremendous response from member countries, there will be several other programs which will be organized later this year.”
Muhammad Qassim said that these initiatives will be finalized soon with the details to be unveiled at the Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
