The National Silat Federation (Pesaka), which organised the Sept 16 red shirt rally, was given an allocation close to RM3 million in the last five years.

The Youth and Sports Ministry confirmed this in a written parliamentary reply to Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin who asked the ministry to state the amount of allocation Pesaka had received for the past five years.

“Pesaka received RM2,915,067 from 2010 to 2014 for training programmes for elite athletes as well as for organising national championships,” read the written reply.

Pesaka came into the limelight after it organised the rally, where some 45,000 people hit the streets to counter the Bersih 4 demonstration held earlier in August.

The counter-rally was organised by Umno figures but the party itself sought to distance itself, with Pesaka stepping in to act as the "official" organiser.

The rally was marred by violence as protesters tried to break into Petaling Street, forcing police to disperse the crowd using water cannons.

In a written parliamentary reply last month, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Pesaka risks being deregistered if it is found to have violated laws under the Sports Development Act 1997 for organising a politically-motivated rally.

Khairy had said the person in charge could be jailed up to six months.

His deputy, M Saravanan, confirmed that the ministry had sent a letter to Pesaka asking for its explanation on why it organised the rally.