ROAD CYCLING SQUAD NEEDS AT LEAST RM2 MLN ANNUALLY - AMARJIT

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) requires at least RM2 million annually to enhance the performance of the national road cycling squad, according to its president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill.

He said this amount takes into account both the men's and women's teams to ensure they are provided with a sustainable training programme, as well as for covering international competitions in the future.

“We have prepared a working paper for both the men’s and women’s teams. The funding that we need to ensure a sustainable programme is about two million a year. Not only for their local events, we are talking about going international.

“As mentioned by Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh, the expenses for the squad’s competitions are not cheap, flight tickets, travel, and so on,” he told reporters after a meeting with Hannah at the National Sports Council (MSN) here yesterday.

Amarjit also hopes the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) will also assist in restoring the Velodrom Rakyat in Ipoh, which is currently unusable due to the wooden track surface rotting.

He said the track should be resurfaced  and a roof added to the venue so it can last longer.

“The velodrome was renovated in 2016 by KBS, and at that time, they decided to keep the wooden track. The Perak Cycling Association (PCA) advised adding a simple roof to cover the newly installed track and protect the wooden surface from rain and sun.

“It only requires about RM1 to RM2 million more, but this did not happen. If it had been done, the track might still be in good condition. We met with Minister Hannah today (yesterday) and requested that the track be repaired so it can be used again,” he said.

Amarjit added that the renovation done in 2016 cost around RM10 million, which included improvements to other facilities in the venue, such as rooms and timing systems.

Yesterday, Hannah said her ministry was ready to consider the three requests made by MNCF to the ministry, which are upgrading the Velodrom Rakyat in Ipoh, Perak, providing special funding for the national road cycling squad, and allocating funds for the association to organise future competitions.

-- BERNAMA