His son, Saiful Ezane, told Bernama that Mazlan was admitted to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) in Petaling Jaya on Friday after suffering a stroke and was also diagnosed with pneumonia. He died at around 4.20pm.

Mazlan led NSC from 1993 to 2005 and was known as the main architect behind the success of the Jaya ’98 and Gemilang 2001 programmes, which boosted Malaysia’s achievements at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and the 2001 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

During his 12 years of service, he introduced long-term sports development policies, strengthened the national backup athlete programmes, and restructured the National Sports Institute (ISN) to enhance scientific support for elite athletes.

He also held key roles in national sports bodies, including the Malaysian National Cycling Federation and was Malaysia’s chef-de-mission for the 2001 SEA Games.

Mazlan received the National Sports Icon Award in 2022.