Skip to main content

Top riders voice their grouses to minister

EIGHT of the country's top cyclists met Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday and told him of their frustration with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).

They want changes and significant improvements to the road programme.
That was their tone as they voiced their grievances and views to Khairy in a special meeting.
As a result of the meeting, National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong said he would take into consideration the cyclists' plea for the NSC to be involved in the road programme to ensure better management and preparation.

A key performance indicator (KPI) has been set and the 2015 Sea Games in Singapore is suggested as a target, after which an evaluation of whether government funding for the programme will continue.
"We might insist that they work with the NSC on certain areas," said Zolkples.

Khairy said the meeting with the cyclists came after he had a meeting with MNCF's top brass last week and he would be following up on his findings yesterday.

"They voiced out not just their grievances, but also some suggestions as they want to see improvements. There were also some complaints, which I will have to check with MNCF," said Khairy.

The minister also revealed that the sports ministry's audit of MNCF's multi-million ringgit expenditure on the road programme (since 2010) started on Monday and should be completed soon.
"If the MNCF wants to continue doing it on their own, then the KPI will have to be met," said Khairy.
Anguished by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation's (MNCF) treatment, the cyclists hoped that yesterday's meeting would clear the air over the misconceptions towards them.

"We were especially bemused by the MNCF executive committee's findings that professional riders were to blame for failures of the road programme," said Anuar Manan.

"We also voiced our concerns over the MNCF's selection process, as we think it should be based on merit and indicated through results.

"They have now decided to limit slots for professional riders, but can the riders in their programme produce better results than us? It should not be like that. The riders with the best results should represent the country.

"The sport is our bread and butter, so we wanted the minister to know exactly how we felt. We feel there are certain things not right in the MNCF and we have informed the minister."

Anuar was joined at the meeting by Zamri Saleh, Harrif Saleh, Adiq Husainie Othman, Shahrul Mat Amin, Amir Mustafa Rusli, Saufi Mat Senan and Ahmad Fakhrullah Alias.

Zamri said the riders felt that a collaboration with the NSC would be vital and that they informed the minister of their disappointment with MNCF's attitude in rejecting the NSC's involvement.

"I think we have everything available at the NSC, all the facilities and support. Just look at the track squad and compare them to the road programme. We should not just think of ourselves all the time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...