UNPAID prizemoney again threatens to derail both the Jelajah Malaysia and Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), as the Malaysian Cycling Federation (MNCF) continues to battle the most sticky predicament in its history.
While prizemoney from last year’s edition of the Jelajah Malaysia hasn’t been paid out to teams due to Sports Ministry sanctions on the national body, a bigger question mark lies in the RM1.6 million total prizemoney package for the 19th edition of LTdL held on Feb 26-March 7, not all of which has been disbursed to teams.
Some have voiced their concern over the delay in payments and should teams lodge a complaint with the International Cycling Union (UCI), the world body could impose sanctions that would stop the next editions of both races,
Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had on Thursday stated the ministry had given a go-ahead to the MNCF to ensure that the Jelajah Malaysia goes on as scheduled, after a final postponement, on Dec 13-17 despite the national body currently serving a month-long suspension which ends on Monday.
“I’ve told (MNCF deputy president) Datuk Naim Mohamad that although they are suspended, activities such as the Jelajah Malaysia should go on and we’ve given them the clearance to go ahead and organise the event,” said Khairy.
When queried over the matter yesterday, Naim explained the prizemoney from the Jelajah Malaysia held in August last year had been held up because of the current predicament the federation is in, with controversies that began last December dragging on into the suspension that it is serving currently.
“With those issues with accounts, the funding from the sports ministry had been suspended, thus held up was also the balance of the budget allocated for the Jelajah Malaysia, which includes the prizemoney,” said Naim.
“What I can assure you right now is that for the coming edition on Dec 13-17, direct payment will be made via the National Sports Council (NSC). We then hope the outstanding prizemoney from last year’s race can be settled once our current issue is resolved and the ministry releases the funds due.”
There, however, isn’t a simple explanation for the LTdL prizemoney.
The prizemoney had been deposited into the MNCF’s accounts by the NSC prior to the race and was supposed to be fully disbursed to winners upon anti-doping clearance which was due 75 days after the race ended.
Naim, who is in charge of the Jelajah Malaysia, wasn’t among the MNCF officials directly involved in the organisation of LTdL for the past four years, thus when pressed for answers chose to reserve comments.
“I understand that as MNCF deputy president, I can’t say I don’t know, but honestly I really can’t offer any comments on this matter. The parties involved should be asked the question,” he said.
The MNCF is under suspension after a sports ministry audit into its accounts found various offences, including financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, as well as being in breach of its own constitution. The federation has until Monday to respond and meet conditions set by Sports Commissioner Ahmad Shapawi Ismail in order to avoid deregistration.
The organising rights of LTdL have recently been handed to private organiser Human Voyage Sdn Berhad and chief executive officer Datuk Malik Mydin hopes the matter doesn’t boil over and hinder the next edition of the race scheduled on Feb 27-March 8.
“We hope to start on a clean slate and we are slowly putting everything into place as far as the organisation is concerned. If it is true that prizemoney hasn’t been paid, then I hope the MNCF settles this issue swiftly because it can hinder the race,” said Malik.