KUALA LUMPUR: Newly elected Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF) president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill believes it is time for the government to once again support the national road cycling team.
Amarjit disclosed that funding for the road programme will be one of the key issues he will be discussing with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh when they meet next week.
Amarjit was elected as the new MNCF president earlier this month, replacing the late Datuk Abu Samah Wahab who passed away last year.
"I think with this change in (MNCF) leadership, we just want to send a signal to the government and ask them to turn a new page together," said Amarjit when contacted today.
"If the government wants to put in place requirements (internal controls) that we have to adhere to, then no problem. We are more than willing to work together, we are not going to be difficult.
"We definitely need government support for the road team. There has been a lot of support for other sports such as football. We, however, are not asking for the moon.
"All we want is something reasonable (allocation) to allow us to develop our road cyclists and give them a programme which allows them to train continuously. There has to be continuity.
"We cannot have their training interrupted midway due to a lack of funds and only train when there is an event coming up.
"There needs to be consistency to allow for them to build on their performances and focus, instead of worrying about funding.
"We want them to be in optimum condition and be prepared to perform at a high level for competitions such as the Sea Games and so on."
MNCF had in the past received an RM1.5 million annual grant from the government to develop the road cycling team but it was halted in the early 2010s due to various issues.
Allegations of misappropriation of the RM1.5 funds, which MNCF was cleared of in 2015, did not help their cause. There has not been consistent funding for the national road team since then.
The team has struggled over the years and it was recently revealed that the riders barely had enough to eat three cheap meals a day and were forced to ask for donations to buy equipment such as tyres, tubes and chains in the lead up to Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi, which concluded earlier this month.
The squad has been coached by Yusof Nasir, a volunteer, for roughly five years now.
Amarjit stressed that this must change.
"We would like to have resources to be able to pay our coaches. Yusof, a volunteer, is doing the work. Nobody can really do volunteer work (at this level), people have families to feed," said Amarjit.
"At the end of the day, if we take care of our riders and coaches we will always see greater motivation and greater results."
Amarjit added that MNCF will also look to raise funds for the team via private sector sponsorship to complement any funding from the government.