Malaysian athletes must stop thinking of earning cash on the side and instead concentrate on training for the Olympics, a high-ranking official said. Their priority must be readiness for international competitions - the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympics - vice president of the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union Karim Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said athletes, especially middle and long distance runners, had been taking part in local championships almost every month to earn supplementary income. A monitoring committee would study the matter and athletes were likely to be restricted to just three events a year. “It (local competition) is good for training as they are pitted against foreign runners,” Karim told Malaysian news agency Bernama. “However, if their intention is to earn extra money, then we will have to curtail it.
