KUALA LUMPUR: The Tour of Sarawak fiasco escalated into a full-scale war of words as those involved rebuked statements made by project director Mohd Fadzli Mat Yusof at a press conference yesterday.
More trouble also awaits under-fire organisers Fadz Industries Sdn Bhd, with Australian team Oliver's Racing joining local outfit Corbusier in seeking compensation through legal means.
The Sarawak Cycling Association (SCA) issued a statement to the New Straits Times, clarifying that no money had been channeled to them from the Youth and Sports Ministry for the Tour of Sarawak.
"We have spoken to Mohd Fadzli and have asked him to retract his statement as it is not true," the SCA said in a statement.
"Implying that they had not used money from the Youth and Sports Ministry which was channeled through the SCA is slanderous. The SCA did not receive any such funds."
Australian team Oliver's Racing are the latest to seek compensation, failing which team manager Samuel Layzell says legal recourse will be sought.
"They did not come up with a single cent," said Layzell, when contacted.
"We'll be sending them an invoice and if that fails, we will be seeking legal action and we'll go public with it."
Layzell recounted the trouble the team faced since they arrived in Miri on Monday morning.
"We will be demanding payment for changes to our flight and accommodation bill we were forced to pay for ourselves,"
he said.
Layzell said he had chosen not to put his riders through a 14-hour bus ride to Kuching like most of the local teams and instead chose to get them home swiftly by air as the likelihood of the race happening became bleak.
But Mohd Fadzli's claims in yesterday's press conference irked him as it did most involved in the event.
"I felt a little for the organisers, but his words at that press conference were complete lies," he said.
Ferry's Empire Sdn Bhd, which Mohd Fadzli named as 'allied partners' in his press statement yesterday, have also refuted the claims.
Its chief operating officer Faizal Mahmood said the company is not involved in the organisation of the Tour of Sarawak as the term 'allied partners' would suggest.
"We came on board to help and had provided funding for the operations between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching since the launch of the event in October last year," said Faizal.
"That is part of our contribution as a sponsor, but we are not involved in the organisation of the race. That is fully under Fadz Industries."
The Tour of Sarawak which was supposed to be the first UCI Asia Tour event held in the state held from last Wednesday to Sunday, has spiralled from a fiasco in organisation to full-blooded turmoil since it was finally cancelled yesterday.
From participants arriving to non-existent preparations for the start in Miri, to wrangles with hotel management over unpaid bills, to disgruntled teams seeking compensation, now government officials are seeking more explanations to what has transpired.
From the beginning, the Sarawak government had stated no funds were allocated for the organisation of the event, while
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that only RM200,000 had been allocated by his ministry.
Staffs working for the organisation have also been left unpaid.
Apart from participants, performers for side events and technical crew have been left stranded in Kuching with no flights to Miri booked for them.
That is after they were told to foot their own flight and accommodation bills, which the organisers would reimburse later.
"We have still not received anything, neither is there an indication of whether we will," said technical crew member Taqril Tahir, who is still in Kuching.