KUALA LUMPUR – The Sabah Rugby Union (SRU) has decided to stay away from any activities or competitions organised by Malaysia Rugby (MR) until the national body responds to allegations about its accounts and the proceedings of the elections last December.
SRU president Velayuthan Tan said that this was to ensure MR had good governance and integrity.
The former MR deputy president claimed that efforts to seek clarification on the alleged tampering of the audited financial reports and at least RM1 million reportedly siphoned from MR’s bank account have yielded no proper explanation.
“We don’t want to have any part in an organisation that does not show any accountability,” he claimed at a press conference here today.
MR honorary secretary Fahmy Jalil, when contacted, said: “Either the president (Amir Amri Mohamad) or I will comment further via a statement very soon.”
In December 2022, MR said it had lodged a police report after discovering that a substantial sum of money had been allegedly siphoned from its bank account by an administration staffer dating back to 2019.
At the MR annual general meeting on December 2 last year, Amir Amri was elected as the new president after Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya opted not to defend his post.
SRU secretary L. Ramesh, however, has questioned the legitimacy of the AGM, stating at the press conference today that no audited accounts report was presented to the affiliates.
Meanwhile, Tan said SRU would continue to host the prestigious 19th Borneo Sevens International Rugby in Sandakan, which has been sanctioned by MR and Asia Rugby, from March 9-10 and also focus on the state’s boys’ and girls’ teams’ development, including for the Sukma in Sarawak in August. – February 2, 2024