PUTRAJAYA – The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) today disclosed it has received a letter from the International Cycling Union (UCI) regarding payments owed by the organisers of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2022 to five competing teams.
Without revealing the names of the team involved, MNCF president Datuk Abu Samah Abd Wahab said the arrears exceeded RM1 million, but it did not involve prize money.
He said that if the problem is not resolved this year, it would most likely prevent UCI from listing LTdL in next year’s race calendar.
“The amount of arrears that we know of is based on the amount stated by the UCI...UCI wrote a letter that there are five teams that have not been paid...the amount that has not been paid is not prize money, but things such as appearance fees and flight tickets.
“So when all the teams involved didn’t get the money, they reported it to the UCI.
“The UCI does not want to pressure the event organisers and have contacted MNCF,” he said when met at the LTdL 2023 launch ceremony at the Youth and Sports Ministry Tower here today.
Abu Samah said the issue had not only tarnished the good reputation of LTdL, but also affected the interest of outside teams to compete in the current and subsequent editions.
In this regard, he said he hoped the government through the Youth and Sports Ministry could help MNCF settle the arrears, as efforts to negotiate with the organisers reached a dead end.
“We have been wanting to discuss with them (the organisers) but failed to get in touch…we only ask from the ministry, which says there is a claimable amount of RM1.1 million and RM400,000 in bonds.
“We ask that the amount not be released to them (organisers)...it should be sent or paid directly to the teams that have made the claims.
“We also ask the MSN (National Sports Council) to find a way to facilitate this matter,” he said.
For the record, Human Voyage were the organisers of LTdL 2022 and had been staging the country’s premier cycling tour competition since 2019.
Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh officiated the launch ceremony of LTdL 2023, which will take place from September 23 to 30, involving eight stages across 10 states and the Federal Territories in the peninsula, covering a distance of 1,280.3 km. – Bernama, July 4, 2023
