PETALING JAYA – Malaysia Rugby (MR) has not received a written application from the Sabah Rugby Union (SRU) to withdraw as an affiliate member of the national governing body.
MR honorary-secretary Fahmy Jalil said that there were processes in place that SRU needed to follow if it no longer wished to be associated with MR.
“We have sought the advice of our legal counsel, and they mentioned that the press conference held by SRU yesterday cannot be considered official.
“Our constitution stipulates that if they wish to leave MR, they need to submit a written application,” said Fahmy to the media when met at the annual general meeting of the Selangor Rugby Union at a hotel, here today.
In a press conference yesterday, SRU stated that it wished to “have no part” with MR as it claimed that the national body had not provided a “proper explanation” regarding the alleged tampering of the audited financial reports and the siphoning of RM1 million from the latter’s bank account.
In December 2022, MR filed a police report after discovering that a substantial sum of money had allegedly been siphoned from its bank account by an administration staffer dating back to 2019.
Fahmy mentioned that the issue was discussed during MR’s AGM last December.
“The case is still under investigation by police, and I should not comment further.
“But we received approval from the Sports Commissioner’s Office to hold our AGM last year without presenting the audit report from 2021/2022, as the documents are still in the possession of police while they conduct their investigation.
“When they conclude their investigation, and the documents are returned to us, we will present them in the next AGM.
“I think SRU was saying we refused to furnish the reports, but it was an oversight by them because we discussed this in the AGM, and it was approved in the same meeting,” added Fahmy.
He mentioned that MR was open to meeting with SRU to discuss their issues.
“We don’t want to lose our affiliate member, so we will try to find a solution to resolve this issue harmoniously.
“It will be a loss if Sabah leaves MR, but that is up to them; we cannot force them to stay,” said Fahmy. – February 3, 2024