Working out a win-win solution between the private sector and the national sports associations (NSAs) or teams is important to ensure sponsorship programmes are successful in the long term.
That is the view of National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, who believes that partnerships that are not mutually beneficial will likely be short-lived.
There have been strong calls from various parties, including the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), to restart the Rakan Sukan corporate sponsorship programme following the recent government budget cuts for sports.
The Rakan Sukan programme was introduced in 1994 to attract the private sector to invest in sports.
It was a programme to prepare athletes for the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
"If you look at the Rakan Sukan programme from the 1990s, some of the partnerships were a success and continued long after the initiative ended like the one between Tenaga Nasional and hockey," said Shapawi recently.
"But some partnerships did not last very long because companies had very little knowledge about the sport they were sponsoring.
"But having said that, it is possible to work out a win-win situation if both parties are willing.
"Take Petronas (which is usually associated with motorsports) and basketball, for example. Although Petronas would normally not have anything to do with basketball, they still made it work.
"(In addition to sponsoring programmes), Petronas took the initiative to organise 3-on-3 basketball competitions and basketball-related promotional activities at their stations.
"This helped promote their brand to a greater audience. Their sales benefited from this, and their partnership went on for some time."
Shapawi disclosed that NSC view the proposal to revive the Rakan Sukan programme, albeit in a revised form suitable for today's environment, in a positive light and are willing to work together with OCM for it to be discussed at a higher level.
OCM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, who urged the government to provide greater tax incentives to companies who support sports, disclosed that such decisions will need cabinet approval.
