Hannah believes LTdL issue can be resolved soon

KUALA LUMPUR - Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh believes the issue over Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) being removed from the international race calendar can be resolved soon.

She said the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) were currently in talks with the International Cycling Union (UCI) over the matter.

"MNCF vice president Datuk Amarjit Singh said his side is in discussions with the UCI on finding a solution. Let’s wait for a few days to get further information from them," she said when met during the MHC-RSC under-12 Hockey Tournament here, today.

Questions have been raised over the status of LTdL 2023, which is scheduled to be held from Sept 23-30 after the ProSeries race was removed from the world governing body's race calendar due to the organiser's debt issues.

Hannah said the issue of payment arrears was not new and had existed for quite some time.

Asked if the previous organiser would be subject to any action following the issue, Hannah said: "Don't worry, (we’ll take it) step by step, now the national sports association (MNCF) will handle (the matter)".

MNCF president Datuk Abu Samah Wahab was previously reported as saying that based on a UCI report, the organisers of the LTdL 2019, 2020 and 2022 had not settled the arrears of more than RM1 million, whereby the amount did not involve prize money.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said today's tournament was the first time the body had collaborated with a private club, namely Royal Selangor Club (RSC) to organise tournaments for various age categories.

"Today we witnessed the under-12 tournament, and tomorrow there will be a tournament for the open and veteran categories. Previously we (MHC) organised the under-12 and veteran tournaments ourselves, but we feel that it is necessary to cooperate with clubs and involve the outside community to further develop the sport," he said. - BERNAMA