Muthu said he and Karim had met at an earlier function and decided to settle the matter.

“We just required further clarification from Russel,” he said in a statement to FMT.

MAF deputy president Mumtaz Jaafar, who confirmed the meeting at the organisation’s office, said Karim had explained that the money would be paid pending several receipts for training expenditure as well as Russel’s training programme.

She said this was why the money had been held back.

“We will ask Russel to forward these documents. Upon verification, we will release the money that belongs to him,” she said, adding that there had been a lack of communication on the matter.

The money was part of US$25,000 allocated by the International Association of Athletics Federations for athletics development.

Muthu previously denied knowledge of the issue despite being deputy president under Karim when the RM20,000 for Russel was announced.

Although he received a mock cheque from Karim for RM21,000 at an official dinner in March last year, Russel was only paid RM1,000 for breaking the national 200m record.

Russel spent more than RM100,000 since he began training for Malaysia in 2015, first in Tasmania and now in Brisbane.

On Wednesday, he learnt that he had been recruited to this year’s Podium Programme to strengthen the 4×100 quartet and compete in the 200m event.

Under the programme, he will be paid RM2,000 as a monthly allowance from April until year-end.

He has also received cash incentives from the National Sports Council for winning silver and bronze at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.

The Perak Sports Council meanwhile said he had been paid RM2,500 soon after the 2018 Malaysia Games in Ipoh for winning silver in the 4X100m event and bronze in the 200m event.

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