KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council (NSC) have urged national sports associations to communicate closely with their affiliates and respect all deadlines when preparing athletes for competitions abroad.
Three Malaysian mountain bike (MTB) riders travelled to India for the Asian MTB Championships (Oct 26-29) but were forced to return home yesterday without seeing any action.
A source close to the trio disclosed that they had missed the registration deadline for the competition at the end of August as they had no funds to commit to the event.
They were, however, able to secure funds at the last minute and directly contacted the organisers in India asking if they could still be accepted into the tournament.
The organisers said they could still be accepted as long as they provided a permission letter from the Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
They requested the letter from the national body and travelled to India expecting to receive it via email but did not. As the team manager's meeting had passed, they had no choice but to return home to Malaysia.
NSC athletes division director Jefri Ngadirin disclosed that MNCF had extended an invitation to all their state affiliates to compete in the event earlier this year.
It is believed that the trio were proposed by their state association.
"This shows how important it is for all NSA's to communicate well with their affiliates," said Jefri when contacted yesterday.
"Everybody has to respect the deadlines which are given, especially in international competitions. We cannot take this matter lightly.
"If you still insist on competing in a competition despite missing the official deadline, there could be complications later on, especially if medals are won."
Efforts to contact MNCF senior officials were unsuccessful at the time of writing.