Federation deputy president Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin said the person who made a complaint on Facebook about the girl was not in the tournament hall when the alleged incident happened.
“We were not privy to public statements and/or press conferences made by the tournament director and chief arbiter.
“We trust the police will expedite their investigations into this matter.
“We hope the matter can be resolved amicably and expeditiously for all parties concerned.
“MCF will extend its fullest co-operation,” Tengku Ahmad said in a statement yesterday.
The police report was filed by the tournament director, he added.
He said preliminary queries were made and an investigation committee was formed on April 30. But investigations stopped after the police report was made.
He said the federation came to be aware of complaints through Facebook on April 28 by a person who claimed he was the coach of the player involved.
“The alleged incident happened in the hall of a government school in Putrajaya.
“Since the event was conducted in a school, the pertinent school/ministry dress code is applicable.”
News reports had stated that the 12-year-old participant had been informed by the competition’s chief arbiter that her knee-length dress was “seductive” and violated the tournament’s rules, which among others required players to portray a “dignified appearance”.
In a Facebook post last week, the girl’s coach, Kaushal Khandhar, claimed the chief arbiter told the girl and her mother that the tournament director had deemed her dress “seductive” and a “temptation from a certain angle far, far away”.
Yesterday, Sophian A Yusuf, director of the National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017, denied having ever met the girl, saying he only saw her from images posted on social media.
“I am being slandered. At all material times, I never said the word ‘seductive’ during the whole tournament. I have never seen the player,” The Malay Mail Online quoted him as telling a press conference.
“I have no knowledge of how she was dressed during the whole tournament until someone posted it on social media,” Sophian said, adding that he has since lodged reports with the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
The women, family and community development ministry yesterday said the organiser must furnish an explanation on the actual reason as to why the child was not allowed to participate.
“The Social Welfare Department is gathering information from the organiser on the matter,” the ministry said in a statement.
Chess tournament director denies being behind ‘seductive’ dress incident