No decision to demolish Velodrome Rakyat, says national cycling federation

PETALING JAYA: International Cycling Union (UCI) management board member Amarjit Singh Gill has denied a news report that the Velodrome Rakyat in Ipoh is to be demolished.

Amarjit, who is also Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) vice-president, said nothing had been decided about what to do with the Velodrome Rakyat, following problems with repair works.

Utusan Malaysia had reported that the UCI had directed the velodrome, which was recently repaired, to be brought down as it had not been rebuilt according to UCI specifications.

The report stated that the instruction was issued during a UCI executive management board members meeting in Beijing several days ago, after finding that the contractor appointed to undertake repair works, costing RM11 million, had failed to adhere to the homologation status.

Homologation is a process to certify that all construction specifications meet UCI standards. UCI Homologation entitles Velodrome Rakyat to host UCI international registered events.

Amarjit said there was no discussion on the velodrome during the UCI management committee meeting in Guilin, China, last week, much less about demolishing it.

“As a member of the UCI management committee, I was there throughout the meeting in Guilin and I can state here clearly that there was absolutely no discussion or even any mention of the word Velodrome Rakyat during the one-day meeting,” he said in a statement in response to the report.

Amarjit asked who was the source quoted in the news report, and how and where the information had been obtained.

“If there is any decision pertaining to Asia and more so to Malaysia, I will be the first to be informed and consulted. There is no truth in the story that (the) UCI management committee had given any directive on this matter,” he said.

Amarjit said during a meeting last year organised by the youth and sports ministry in Putrajaya, the MNCF had clearly indicated that the contractor and the builder must sort out the plans for the velodrome track so as to ensure homologation would be given by the UCI.

The meeting was attended by Amarjit, MNCF president Abu Samah Wahab, Darshan Singh Gill, Dutch track builder Sander Douma, as well as other contractors.

On the issue of homologation, Amarjit said the process was still ongoing, and any recommendations by UCI technical officials would be welcomed.

On the possibility that the track events will be dropped from Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) in Perak, Amarjit clarified that it would only require homologation by the MNCF for any national event to take place on the tracks.

“Therefore, the question of the Sukma 2018 track events being dropped doesn’t arise at all,” said Amarjit.

The Perak Cycling Association (PCA) president also said that as far as he knew, the track and the facilities were all ready, except for the timing system which was due to be installed by next month.

Amarjit also said the PCA had asked the youth and sports ministry at a meeting last month to allow the PCA to use the track for Perak cyclists to do their training and that this had been agreed to in principle.

Last year, the ministry gave a special allocation of RM11 million to refurbish the damaged 250 metre timber track.

The velodrome, initiated by Darshan, is the first in the country. It was named the People’s Velodrome and has hosted several world class cycling competitions. -FMT