Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) president Abu Samah Abd Wahab and his deputy Naim Mohammad have been ordered by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to pay a sum of RM288,275.56 to Yayasan Sime Darby for breaching a sponsorship agreement.

The High Court upheld an earlier Sessions Court decision that had issued the order of payment to the two MNCF office-bearers.

MNCF and Yayasan Sime Darby had entered into an agreement on April 19, 2010, to sponsor seven promising cyclists by giving RM1.96 million to the cycling federation.

However, Yayasan Sime Darby allegedly found that MNCF could not provide documentation relating to how the money was spent.

The foundation had discovered several breaches in an audit conducted when the contract expired in March 2012. It sent letters between September and December 2012 to MNCF requesting an explanation.

Yayasan Sime Darby found that out of the RM1.96 million, RM1.673 million had been accounted for and properly spent.

However, the foundation claimed that RM25,106.46 of the sponsorship money had been spent by the cycling federation on administration fees, which violated the terms of the agreement.

The foundation also asked Abu Samah and Naim to provide documentation to show that a remaining sum of RM220,295.86 which was unaccounted for had been properly spent.

It also alleged that a sum of RM42,873.30, which was supposed to comprise the balance of the sponsorship to be returned to the foundation, had not been given back.

Judicial commissioner Mohd Firuz Jaffril in his decision in chambers agreed with the Sessions Court's pronouncement that MNCF had failed to justify its use of the funds.

He further found that the appellant (Abu Samah and Naim) had not explained how the funds had been used by the cycling federation despite several reminders issued to them by Yayasan Sime Darby.

Mohd Firuz also ordered Abu Samah and Naim to pay RM5,000 in costs after the appeal was dismissed.

MNCF was represented by lawyer Sugandra Rao while Karamjit Singh appeared for Yayasan Sime Darby.