He added that action must be taken to ensure that no more damage is caused due to the problem of corruption, Bernama reported.

“We have many world-class athletes. More than a few had also managed to bring glory to the country at international championships.

“But, if we were to dig further (into how sports bodies are run), most of the time there is an element of corruption, so we have to deal with this,” he was quoted as saying at his first press conference after officially reporting for duty at the ministry.

However, Adam did not elaborate further on the issue of corruption affecting sports bodies.

He stressed that the national sports arena should be free from any corruption, inefficiency, and leakages in order to raise it to a higher level.

“I’m sure media practitioners who cover sports know about this problem very well. It is actually an internal problem because I believe it’s not so much about the performance of the athletes,” he said, according to Bernama.

When asked about how the ministry hopes to deal with the problems faced by sports associations at the moment, Adam said that all matters will be thoroughly evaluated.

“We are now in the transition process. The government’s overall policy at the moment is to fix the old and make sure that there is no damage in the future,” he said.

Adam, who is also Hang Tuah Jaya MP and PKR Youth head, was among the 27 deputy ministers who took their oaths of office before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Saturday.