The Controversy - Borneo International Marathon 2011

The Borneo International Marathon (BIM) 2011 (covered in a posting on 1 May 2011) got into a whole mess of controversy this week.

The Daily Express (13 May 2011) reported that the Sabah Amateur Athletics Association (SAAA) claimed the BIM 2011 event was illegal. The SAAA said it was an unsanctioned event (not sanctioned by the state, national, or international marathon bodies), with excessive profit-making motive, and that the money raised should be returned to the sponsors.

The list of sponsors listed included Newton Running (?), GNC (selling supplements and vitamins), DIGI, 100 Plus (sports drink), Borneo Natural Mineral Water, Salonpas (medicated plaster), TiMatch, MASWings ...

Today, the Daily Express front-paged the Organiser's reply "We have nothing to hide ..." but they refuse to report the total revenue from the event.

Instead, the Director used an example with only the entrance fees collected. He claimed that RM192,000 had been given away to charities from the events held in the last three years.

The Minister of Sports' reply was a rather confusing mess of "concurring it was illegal ... depending on how you look at it ... but the next one will be sanctioned".

He said that "It is not my duty to investigate the accounts and this I take it the event company is honourable". Wow! if I did the launching, and such a controversy came up, I would be the first one to say everything must be investigated for transparency. But that's only my opinion lah!

The Organiser gave the details on the charitable donations. The "Charity sum double(d)" RM100,000 donated to various charities from this year's event didn't sound so impressive when the details given showed that only RM10,968.51 came from the entrance fees (10% of total entrance fees). Yayasan Sime Darby donated RM40,000 (specifically to 2 charities; HUTAN and Sri Mengasih), and the balance was from various private individuals and organisations.

The Organiser gave an explanation for the sprat with the SAAA leading to their non-involvement. I am sure the SAAA will give a counter-reply (ie more drama ahead!).

Finally, the Shangri-La (STAR) hotel also had something to say. I didn't see their name in the list of sponsors in the 13 May report, but they were said to be the CO-ORGANISER and Main Sponsor. Again the usual "Nothing wrong, but we will investigate ...". Then the GM deflected the attention to unsanctioned golf tournaments (a new can of worms?). He also said "And I hope that the matter can be put to rest."