'Such disgusting news... sport is for everyone' - Syed Saddiq

'Such disgusting news... sport is for everyone' - Syed Saddiq


Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said that "sport is for everyone" in response to a teacher allegedly encouraging his student to embrace Islam.

Taking to Twitter, the Muar MP said that teachers should be good role models for their students and not discriminate against others.

“Such disgusting news. Sport is for everyone.

“Sport is the best platform to unite all Malaysians, not the other way around,” Syed Saddiq said.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that the teacher allegedly told the student that converting to Islam would boost the 15-year-old's chances of joining the national football team.

The boy’s mother, who identified herself as “Vasan”, claimed the class teacher also encouraged the boy to convert and even asked the class to suggest Islamic names for him.

“When I looked through the messages, I noticed that the teacher told my son that if he wanted to join the national team, he had to be a Muslim,” she said.

She learned about the incident on Feb 3 when her son showed her the messages in a Whatsapp group created for the class by the teacher.

Vasan also claimed her son revealed that the teacher had been preaching to him about Islam for the past six months.

Malaysiakini has contacted the school for a response to this allegation.

Cheras district police chief Zam Halim Jamaluddin told Malaysiakini that an investigation is being carried out.