Under-fire Melaka Century Ride organiser cancels jersey distribution meet, issues apology
NST
New Straits TimesOctober 28, 2016
Under-fire Melaka Century Ride organiser cancels jersey distribution meet, issues apology
By Arnaz M. Khairul
MALACCA: Under-fire Melaka Century Ride organisers MySkill Media Sdn Bhd today irked further ire among the cycling community by cancelling the jersey and goodie bags distribution scheduled to be held as consolation for angry participants tomorrow.
Event director Azmar Ab Hamid, in a media statement, said that the collection of the items scheduled to be held throughout the day at the Dewan Alamanda in Jasin has been cancelled.
Participants instead are requested to email their race numbers to the organisers for the items to be sent by post.
As of yesterday, a second police report is believed to have been lodged against the organisers in Malacca.
MySkill Media reportedly collected more than RM390,000 from over 3,000 participants registered for the event, as announced earlier by a partner company of the event, which handled the online registration and collections on their behalf.
The organisers had then abruptly announced the cancellation of the event on Tuesday, to uproar from the cycling community, which was heightened by further announcements that there would be no refunds of entry fees.
This, the organisers said, was due to an article in the terms and conditions for the event, agreed upon by participants during registration that in the event of a cancellation of the event, their entry fees would not be refunded.
In his latest statement, Azmar apologised to participants, the Malacca state government and agencies involved in the event.
"Again, I apologise for the incidents that have happened in this edition of the event. All have been informed and I responsibly will try to settle all issues that have arisen. I accept all comments on the matter," said Azmar.
Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron on Thursday reiterated that the state government was not involved in the organisation of the event and called for those affected by it to lodge police reports against the organisers.
Idris also called on police to take necessary action, seeing that a large number of participants had been affected not just by the loss of entry fees but costs in making travel and lodging arrangements in Malacca for the event.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
