KUALA LUMPUR – National sports associations (NSAs) should not take for granted the importance of financial governance, said Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
This comes after the Malaysia Rugby Union (MRU) lodged a police report regarding a case of breach of trust suspected to have been committed by a staff member while managing the club’s bank account.
Norza, who is also the president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, said that NSAs cannot rely on volunteers to manage their financial accounts.
It is time for NSAs to hire professionals such as accountants, financial managers, or financial controllers, so that good financial governance is followed,” he said.
He elaborated that a financial professional could ensure that financial reports are well documented, which could avoid future problems.
Norza said that the issue plaguing Malaysian rugby should be a warning for the entire sports industry and advised other NSAs to re-evaluate their financial accounts.
“It is also about accountability and responsibility,” he said.
Meanwhile, a source close to the MRU revealed to The Vibes that the suspect has been working with the association for more than 10 years.
As such, the MRU was not suspicious when the staff wanted to go on leave after the association found out about the missing money.
The suspect is sleek. That person has been with the MRU for so long, (for) more than 10 years, and has never missed submitting all the monthly reports,” said the source.
“When the staff in question wanted to take leave, there was no reason for us to have any suspicion.
“So, we did not expect the staff to be doing this to us.”
The source also said that the estimated loss was around RM2 million.
Allegedly, they have been informed by some of the suspect’s close friends, when they heard about the news, that the individual has gambling issues. – The Vibes, December 8, 2022
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