KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Rugby (MR) have decided not to send the men's and women's squads to the Asia Rugby Under-20 Sevens Championships in Hong Kong in August.
MR honorary secretary Jamaluddin Salim said this was due to lack of preparation by both teams.
"It is a bit different this year as rugby will be included in the Malaysia Games. A lot of states have been focusing on preparing their teams for the games," said Jamaluddin.
"From one perspective, it is good as everyone has been strengthening their state teams. It, however, has made it a bit tricky for us to call up the players for national training due to the various (domestic) competitions they were involved in.
"We have thus decided to let them focus on the Malaysia Games and will not be sending both squads to Hong Kong.
"We will, however, be sending a 15s squad to the Asia Under-19 Championship later this year.”
Perak will host the Malaysia Games in September. It will be the first time women's rugby is included in the competition.
Jamaluddin denied that the decision was due to cost cutting following the national sevens squad’s demotion to category B for the Asian Games, where all costs must be borne by the national body.
“The decision was not due to money, we felt it was not right to send a team who were not well prepared for the competition," added Jamaluddin.
"At the moment, money is not an issue for us. We still have sufficient funds from the sponsorship we received from UEM Group,".
MR received a substantial shot in the arm after inking a two-year sponsorship deal with UEM Group worth RM4 million in February.