SUNGAI BULOH, Dec 11 — The Youth and Sports Ministry will lodge a police report and blacklist organisers of an unlicensed marathon in Klang after a car crash injured three runners.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he has advised the Malaysia Sports Commissioner Office (PPS) to do so, accusing Earth Runners Int Group Sdn Bhd, which organised the Klang City International Marathon 2017, of breaching Section 36 of the Sports Development Act 1997 by not getting a license from the PPS.
“We want to prosecute them in court and the police to conduct investigations against the company as it is clearly shown they have organised an illegal sporting event,” he told reporters at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Section 36 of the Sports Development Act states that no company can be involved in organising any sporting activity or any other activity related to sports in accordance to the regulations set by the minister, unless licensed by the commissioner.
Khairy said it was regrettable that an international run was tarnished and stressed that all sporting events have to be granted permission from PPS and other enforcement authorities.
“Therefore we (the ministry) will also administratively blacklist the organisers, Earth Runners Int Group Sdn Bhd, for failure to submit an application to hold the event,” he said.
Khairy said all events sanctioned by PPS would be posted onto the ministry’s website starting tomorrow.
He said an amendment to the Section 36 of the Sports Development Act 1997 will be submitted for review to the Attorney General’s Chamber to impose a heavier fine of RM500,000 and to extend the imprisonment term, as well as to make it compulsory for organisers to apply for a license 90 days prior to the event date.
The existing Act imposes a fine not more than RM5,000, imprisonment not more than six months or both upon conviction.
Khairy said Klang City International Marathon 2017 runners should demand a refund and sue the organisers if a refund was refused, as the organisers had made a false representation.
Sports Commissioner Datuk Zaiton Othman said following the incident on Sunday, the upcoming Klang Heritage Marathon 2018, formerly known as the Selangor Marathon 2017 has been cancelled.
“We received an application from the organisers but decided to disapprove them in order to conduct further security checks on the planned event,” she said.
During the Klang City International Marathon, ultramarathoner Evelyn Ang, 44, was among three people hit by a car at around 4.30am on Sunday along Jalan Kapar Batu 2.
Ang, who was one of the pacers for the marathon, was in critical condition after sustaining serious head injuries, while the other two victims — Amiruddin Hamid, 37, and Ahmad Hadafi Jus, 42 — sustained light injuries.
Police arrested a 27-year-old driver who had allegedly lost control of his vehicle and rammed into the runners from behind.
