KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Rugby Union (SRU) has taken Malaysia Rugby (MR) to task for an alleged money scandal in 2022, and declared they don't recognise the national body.
SRU secretary Ramesh Lachmanan alleged in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that more than RM1 million had gone missing from MR.
"The auditor had lodged a police report against MR for forging his account. His account was different from what he submitted to MR.
"It is a crime to falsify an auditor's report. Police are still investigating the matter.
"We wrote to the Sports Commissioner on the matter last October but he did not reply to us.
"We also wrote to MR twice last year as we wanted a copy of the accounts. But they also did not reply to our letters.
"But the Sports Commissioner gave them the green light on Nov 30 to hold the AGM on Dec 2.
"We heard that more than RM4 million is missing from MR's accounts," said Ramesh.
SRU president Vela Tan said that they don't want to be part of such a national body, which he claimed, does not have good governance and integrity.
"What is wrong is wrong. We (Sabah Rugby) walked out of the AGM as their accounts were not valid.
"We want to sit with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh to look into the matter and put the house in order," said Vela, who resigned as Asian Rugby vice president last week.
"We had hoped the last exco should have recused themselves and let an independent interim committee run MR activities till investigations are completed for the sake of good governance.
"If MR is suspended by Asian Rugby or World Rugby, then Malaysia's players will suffer the most as they won't get to play in domestic and international tournaments
"Last year we (Sabah) competed in domestic tournaments under protest but this year we decided not to compete in any tournament which is sanctioned by MR.
"We will hold our Borneo Sevens on March 9 and 10 in Sandakan and it is sanctioned by Asia Rugby," said Vela.
MR secretary Fahmy Jalil, when contacted yesterday by Timesport on the matter, said the national body will issue a statement soon.