KUALA LUMPUR – The national cycling body will employ the Safe Sport Code as a benchmark in an upcoming internal hearing about the case of a coach who faced allegations of sexually harassing a female athlete.
Acting deputy president of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill, who confirmed this to Scoop, said it would ensure a fair and transparent process in addressing such serious allegations.
A little over a week ago the coach in question was exonerated of all charges by the deputy public prosecutor’s office following a police investigation.
Despite the legal clearance, MNCF said it was committed to conducting an internal hearing within the next two to three weeks, where all involved parties would be summoned to present their perspectives on the matter.
“Our disciplinary proceedings have not closed, it was interrupted after police took over the investigations,” Amarjit, who is also an International Cycling Union management committee member, told Scoop when contacted.
“But now since police have concluded their findings, we can continue our investigation and after everything is done we will make a final decision based on the findings of the disciplinary proceedings.
“Since we are a signatory of the code, we will use that as a benchmark in our hearing. We are willing to work together with the National Sports Council’s safeguarding officer for the code, Melissa Akhir, if she wants to be involved in this hearing.
“We want to reach a finality in this matter for once and for all as it has been on hold for a while,” he said.
In March, a female national mountain bike rider lodged a police report against her coach, claiming he sexually harassed her during a training session in preparation for the Cambodia SEA Games in May.
After receiving news of the police report, MNCF immediately suspended the coach pending the investigation.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh then revealed that the coach had resigned from the national squad.
Earlier this month, Amarjit had urged police to swiftly resolve the case. – December 31, 2023