# The National Sports Council (MSN): How Malaysia Builds Its Athletes

> The National Sports Council of Malaysia (Majlis Sukan Negara, MSN) is the statutory agency under the Ministry of Youth and Sports that develops the nation's athletes from grassroots to the Olympic podium, running the training programmes and Bukit Jalil facilities behind Malaysia's elite sport.

- Category: sports
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/sports/national-sports-council-msn

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When a Malaysian sprinter lines up at the Olympics or a young footballer is scouted into a national squad, there is a single government body standing behind the training, the coaching and the facilities that got them there: the **National Sports Council of Malaysia**, known in Malay as **Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN)**. It is the statutory agency that turns national sports policy into actual athletes.

## What exactly is MSN?

MSN is a government agency and statutory body that governs sporting activities in Malaysia. It sits under the **Ministry of Youth and Sports** — the Kementerian Belia dan Sukan, or **KBS** — which means KBS sets the policy while MSN is the agency that develops and coordinates sport on the ground.

Its headquarters is the **Kompleks Sukan Negara (National Sports Complex) in Bukit Jalil**, 57000 Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, and its general enquiries line is **03-89929600**. Beyond Bukit Jalil, MSN operates additional training complexes across several states.

## When and how was it created?

MSN was established under the **National Sports Council of Malaysia Act 1971**, which was later **amended in 1979**. The Council was **officially launched on 21 February 1972** by Malaysia's second Prime Minister, **Tun Abdul Razak Hussein**.

It was then **restructured in 1981**, after which it significantly expanded its programmes and activities — in line with the National Sports Policy's aim to fully drive the encouragement, development and elite-level achievement of sport.

## Who leads MSN?

| Role | Holder |
| --- | --- |
| Director General | Ahmad Shapawi Ismail |
| Minister of Youth and Sports | Hannah Yeoh |
| Deputy Minister | Adam Adli |

The Director General runs the agency day to day, while the parent minister and deputy sit at the KBS level above it. (The current office-holders should be re-confirmed against the official site before being treated as up to date — see the verification note.)

## What programmes does MSN actually run?

MSN's real work is a pipeline of athlete- and sport-development programmes, including:

- the **Athletes Training Programme** and the **Para Athletes Training Programme**;
- the **National Football Development Programme** (the FAM–MSN Project);
- national development programmes for **hockey, netball and rugby**;
- **Junior Cycling Malaysia**; and
- the **Women in Sports** programme.

Together these run from grassroots talent identification up to the preparation of national athletes for major competition.

## What's next

MSN is one part of a wider system that also includes the Ministry of Youth and Sports above it, the National Sports Institute (ISN), the national sports associations, and the state sports councils (Majlis Sukan Negeri). For the confirmed shape of that division of labour — and the exact statutory functions of the Act — see the verification notes attached to this entry, which flag what still needs checking against primary sources.

## Sources

- National Sports Council of Malaysia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sports_Council_of_Malaysia (Wikipedia)
- Sejarah — Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia — https://www.nsc.gov.my/sejarah/ (Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia (nsc.gov.my))
- Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia — Official Website — https://www.nsc.gov.my/en/ (Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia (nsc.gov.my))

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