KUCHING: Fadz Industries Sdn Bhd, the organisers of the Tour Of Sarawak (TOF) today offered an official apology for the cancellation of the event which was due to begin yesterday.
Mohd Fadzli Mat Yusof in a press conference here, said the cancellation was due to the lack of funds caused by the last-minute withdrawal by sponsors.
He named the Sarawak state Government, Youth and Sports Ministry, Sarawak Social Development Ministry, Malaysia Cycling National Foundation, UCI, Sarawak Cycling Association and to all the participants and clubs involved in the event in his apology.
He clarified that the organisation did not use the money amounting RM200,000 which was funded by the Youth and Sports Ministry via the Sarawak Cycling Association (SCA).
He also said some of the participants who arrived to Kuching today, have flown back to their own countries.
"I would like to express my sincere apology to everyone involved in the event. We have not been using the money funded by the ministry.
"Instead, we forked out our money to pay for the participants' expenses back to Kuching and their own countries.
"We have cancelled the event as we did not receive any funds from the ministry," said Mohd Fadzli.
He also offered an apology to Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
"I understand that everyone involved in the event is upset with the sudden problems. I am ready to explain and clarify to the higher authorities over the matter," he said adding that he will lodge a police report on the matter.
However, Mohd Fadzli's statement that the organisation had used their own funds of up to RM500,000 to pay for participants' transfer to Kuching from Miri on bus last night, was refuted by some members of the entourage.
Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) technical delegate Ibrahim Omar said the teams, including his team of officials, were left to their own devices to get to Kuching.
"We had to sort out our own bus fare to get to Kuching and the teams that remained there had to do so too. Some of the hotel bills had to be paid for by us," said Ibrahim Omar.
"The foreign teams have mostly left and made their own arrangements to do so. Some had to get in touch with their embassies for assistance," he claimed.
He added that the MNCF would be assisting local teams with some cash to get them home safely.
"If the organisers had paid for all of it as suggested, we would not be suffering as we are now," claimed physiotherapist Ahmad Ramzi Ahmad Zaini.
"We were left there in Miri to find our own way to Kuching. We were never offered any help to settle our bus fare or anything. But we knew this was just a total disaster, so we had to find our own way to Kuching and get back to Kuala Lumpur."
Lampre Singapore team coach Ng Yong Li lambasted the organisers for saying they paid for the teams' passage home.
"Let me make this clear. We and all the teams left in Miri, including the MNCF commissaires, we all paid our own bus fare to get to Kuching," said Yong Li.
"If the organiser says so, he was standing right there when we were negotiating with a bus service provider. He never offered to pay for anything. He just ignored us.
"We just want to get back home now and forget this. He should not make matters worse by coming up with such incorrect statements."