Malaysia Marathon 2017 scrapped

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysia Mar athon 2 017 ha s to b e cancelled following the failure of the organisers to meet the target of registering at least 5,000 participants from China, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

He said the Chinese government had appointed Wisdom Sports Group along with Malaysia counterparts Wisdom Sports ( M) Sdn Bhd to organise the Malaysia Marathon 2017, which was known previously as One Belt One Road Marathon.

He said a memorandum of understanding ( MoU) was signed in Beijing, China last May, in which the organiser was supposed to bring in 5,000 participants from China for the run.

“However, China’s Wisdom Sports Group failed to ful fil the requirement in the MoU. Unfortunately, they failed to achieve the number, Wisdom Sports ( M) Sdn Bhd felt it was best to cancel the event,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

On Monday, Wisdom Sports ( M) Sdn Bhd posted on its website and Facebook page stating that the marathon scheduled on Oct 1 at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur was called off due to “unforeseen circumstances which would have impacted the overall event quality”.

In the statement, it said the company would refund the fees paid by participants within 30 days of the cancellation. The company also requested those who had registered for the event to send email if they did not receive their refund by Oct 15. — Bernama