Shah Alam, 16 December 2010 - As the Olympic Council Malaysia (OCM)’s Official Partner, Carlsberg Malaysia announced its annual sponsorship of RM 30, 000 for the year 2010 to the Malaysian Sports through the OCM-Carlsberg Athletes Retirement Scheme, as part of Carlsberg Malaysia’s long term commitment in giving back to society.

“For 16 consecutive years, Carlsberg Malaysia has been partnering with OCM in providing the OCM-Carlsberg Athletes Retirement Scheme which serves to protect deserving Malaysian athletes with life insurance coverage. The scheme also aims to incentivise and motivate athletes to excel and strive for greater heights. We are indeed pleased that that the OCM-Carlsberg Athletes Retirement Scheme has now been well-recognised by the local sporting community and this scheme has also been adapted by a number of National Olympic Committees in other parts of the world,” Soren Ravn, Managing Director of Carlsberg Malaysia said.

To date, the retirement scheme has a total insurance coverage of approximately RM3.07 million for 88 Malaysian athletes, whom have made the country proud by winning medals at the past Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

Soren Ravn said: “We believe that this Scheme will benefit more Malaysian sportsmen and sportswomen and urge the atheletes to focus on giving their best to make Malaysia proud. We hope that the successful beneficiaries will share their experiences and inspire Malaysian youth to actively participate in sports and strive to excel in their respective sporting fields.”

In conjunction with the event, Carlsberg Malaysia also made a cash contribution from the Carlsberg Golf Classic Charity Fund of RM 5, 000 to Persatuan Rumah Kebajikan Rita and Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-kanak Istimewa Sri Sai respectively for the orphanage homes’ expenses. Carlsberg Malaysia hopes that the contribution will help ease the financial burden of the two shelter homes.

“ We hope that in a small way we have been able to indirectly insipre and motivate the children by giving them an opportunity to meet with many of our superstar athletes today. We hope that the the meeting has motivated and inspired the underprivilged children to think and act like winners and to strive for greater achievement despite the challenges faced by them,” Ravn shared.

Also present at the annual sponsorship of the OCM-Carlsberg Athletes Retirement Scheme were Malaysian athletes namely Dato’ Nicol David, Chai Fong Ying, Ho Ro Bin, R. Puvaneswaran, Alex Liew Kien Liang and Adrian Ang Hsien Loong to share their experiences.