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New Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
MR says High Court ruling is a relief after lengthy trial
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysia Rugby (MR) staff member Murni Azlina Yurdeksi has been ordered by the High Court to pay RM4.9 million in damages to the national body. In its ruling on March 4, the court found Murni Azlina liable for breach of trust, fraud and conversion, and ordered her to pay RM4,923,468.07 within 14 days. An annual interest of five per cent was to apply from March 13, 2023, until the full amount is paid. The court also dismissed a counterclaim filed by Murni Azlina and ordered her to pay RM30,000 in legal costs. MR honorary secretary Fahmy Jalil said the decision brought relief after a lengthy trial and that the union could now focus on its administrative affairs. "The civil suit is over, but the criminal suit is still ongoing. We are glad the civil case is settled and hope to recover the funds, though it will be tough if she is declared bankrupt," said Fahmy. "The new MR executive committee has moved on from the missing funds. It was tough to run programmes without the money, but we have managed to raise funds and continued with what we had." In 2022, MR discovered that a substantial sum of money was allegedly siphoned from its bank account by an administrative staff member. It is alleged that the staff member, who handled MR's accounts, had forged the signatures of both the MR president and treasurer to make cash withdrawals dating back to 2019. Fahmy said MR had since strengthened its financial procedures to prevent similar incidents. "We used to have four bank accounts, but we've closed three and now only maintain one. We've also reduced cheque usage and switched to online banking, which allows for better monitoring of our funds," he said.
New Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Top school teams to vie for Super Schools Rugby glory
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's premier school rugby tournament, Super Schools Rugby (SSR), marked the launch of its 10th edition with a vibrant launch event at the MBSA Auditorium recently. Officiated by Education Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim and attended by Malaysia Rugby president Amir Amri Mohamad, the event unveiled an expanded competition format and honoured key figures through the newly established SSR Hall of Fame. Tournament director Shahrizin Shaharudin highlighted the growth and impact of the competition over the last ten years, stating, "SSR has evolved into Malaysia's leading platform for nurturing rugby talent. It fosters unity, discipline, and positive values among students." He also announced increased prize money for the anniversary edition, with SSR champions receiving RM15,000 and SSR Academy Division (SSRA) winners taking home RM10,000. This year, SSR 2025 will feature an unprecedented 36 teams competing across two elite divisions. The main SSR division sees 24 prestigious school teams battling for the Tan Sri Wan Aziz Challenge Trophy. The competition is expected to kick-off next month.
New Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Malaysia Rugby to conduct post-mortem after ARC relegation
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Rugby (MR) will conduct a post-mortem to understand the reasons behind Malaysia's heavy defeat to Sri Lanka in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) relegation-cum-promotional playoff last week. The Bunga Raya squad succumbed to a 59-19 defeat in Colombo and have thus been relegated to ARC Division One (second tier) which will only be played next season. MR president Amir Amri Mohamad said the national body is determined to look ahead and rebuild for the future. "We expect to conduct a post-mortem soon and identify areas we need to improve on," said Amir when contacted today (April 23). "The last few years have been challenging and our priority now is to fix any issues we have and look to improve. "We acknowledge the past, however, we do not want to dwell on it. The goal is to look to the future and rebuild. "This will, however, take time and I hope everyone will remain patient." Malaysian rugby was hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic as restrictions did not allow for any contact sports to be played for almost two years in Malaysia. The national body was then hit with an embezzlement case in 2022, incurring losses of over RM2 million. Malaysia had won its two previous encounters with Sri Lanka in 2016 (42-17) and 2017 (22-9), the latter securing promotion to the ARC top-tier for 2018. The heavy defeat to them last week thus sparked concern within the rugby fraternity with former national 15s head coach Wan Ibrahim Wan Chik stating that MR must look to swiftly correct issues from the ground up.
New Straits Times
21-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Former national coach saddened by decline in Malaysian rugby
KUALA LUMPUR: Revered former national head coach Wan Ibrahim Wan Chik is not surprised to see the national squad being relegated from the top-tier of the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC). Malaysia will play in division one — which is the second tier of ARC — for the first time since 2017 next season after being thumped 59-19 by Sri Lanka in a relegation-cum-promotional playoff in Colombo last week. Malaysia had won its two previous encounters with Sri Lanka in 2016 (42-17) and 2017 (22-9), the latter securing promotion to the ARC top-tier for 2018. Wan Ibrahim, better known as Pak Wan within the rugby fraternity, said he is sad to see Malaysian rugby in the state it is today. Wan Ibrahim is also the former Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (TMISS) headmaster and helped develop many of the players that have represented Malaysia over the past two decades. "To be honest I expected us to lose to Sri Lanka. It is disappointing as we have not lost to Sri Lanka in recent years," said Wan Ibrahim when contacted today (April 21). "This shows that we are getting worse as time goes on. If we do not get our programmes right at the lower levels, this is what happens. "There are still players such as Nazreen Fitri Nasrudin, whom I coached at TMISS 15 years ago, still in this national team. "I am not saying Nazreen is not a good player, but the question is, are the current crop of players not good enough to the point that we have to depend on players from more than 10 years ago?" Wan Ibrahim added that there are a number of reasons behind the decline of Malaysian rugby. He stressed that the national body — Malaysia Rugby (MR) — must address the situation swiftly and take action to correct issues from the ground up. "One reason is that there is very little continuity in the development programmes for young players at the moment. When players from TMISS and Malaysia Pahang Sports School end their studies, they essentially stop playing rugby because they have nowhere to go and very few competitions to compete in," said Wan Ibrahim. "During my time, TMISS players would be channeled to Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) which is the centre of excellence for university rugby in Malaysia. I am not sure what happened to the programme. "Another major issue is that there is currently no national inter-club 15s competition being held. Players need tough domestic competitions each year to develop their game and remain sharp. "Even TMISS used to field a team in the Super League previously, which allowed our young players to get match exposure week in week out during the season. "I couldn't tell you how good the current batch of players from the sports school are because they haven't had the chance to compete in such a league. Age-level competitions or sevens tournaments don't give them the same exposure. "Having a domestic club league would also ensure our national team has a decent selection of naturalised players — usually Fijians — to choose from because the clubs would bring them in and keep them on their books. "For the Sri Lanka match we still depended on Etonia Vaqa Saukuru, a player we have been depending on for the last decade. "At the moment, we only have corporate leagues and state level leagues for 15s competition in Malaysia but the level is not the same as the Super League." MR previously held the Super League, later known as the Malaysia Rugby League, for clubs annually, however, it has not been held since 2019. TMISS would field their under-20 players — who were taking their pre-university courses at the school - in the competition. University sides such as Serdang Angels (UPM) and UiTM Lions would also lock horns with traditional big guns such as Cobra, Negri Sembilan Wanderers and Keris Conlay in the league.
