James Kon

STRIKE Promotions, the organiser of combat sports events in the country, is hoping to hold dialogue with relevant agencies to ensure the success of future events and build a working relationship, after two of its latest events of Battle Royale and Ground Zero: Session 1 were forced to cancel due to alleged approval issues.

During a press conference at the Residence Suite Hotel in the capital yesterday, Founder of STRIKE Promotions Firdausi Zainidi and Co-event Manager of Ground Zero: Session 1 Ahmad Anwar Rosly announced the cancellation of Ground Zero: Session 1.

“The promotion had submitted the application for ‘Battle Royale’ as early as April. The event was due to take place in July. However, due to time constraints, lack of updates and no coordination from relevant agencies, the event had to be cancelled,” said Firdausi Zainidi.

“The promotion then proceeded with their application for the next event, originally set for August 17. The application was not approved due to the nature of contact sports to which the event organiser and the relevant agencies understood, is still new and a growing sport in Brunei. There is much to learn out of this experience.

“As advised, we took necessary steps and proceeded to appeal to relevant agencies and have the event postponed to September 14.” He added, “The promotion had officially announced the indefinite cancellation of the sporting event and met with the relevant agencies in order to get clarification for the cancellation. Unfortunately, the answer given was unsatisfactory.”

Ground Zero Season 1 is a spin-off event which consists of elements of combat sports and contemporary music, and was meant to be an ongoing series of events for local clubs/gyms to participate in exhibition matches and local talents to showcase their musical capabilities during the side shows.

The series of events would lead to and build up interest prior to the next major strike event which was scheduled to take place sometime in December this year.

Strike Promotions has organised two events so far, with the first held in November last year at The Airport Mall which was met with some controversy due to external factors, and a follow-up event held in March at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre that was met with great response from the public.

Firdausi Zainidi said, “The Strike brand was meant to be a combat sports platform for Brunei. Previously, local athletes would need to travel overseas, often on their own expenses, just to compete. It would also contribute to the local economy by attracting foreign and regional participation. Spin-off events can support local businesses and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) selling not only food but also sporting products and services.”

He stressed, “We want to see how we can proceed in Brunei. We still hope to have an event in December. We may even go to neighbouring states of Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan.”

On the refund of online ticket, he said, “We will inform the public to contact our online ticketing partner, Brunei.events.

“The refund has actually already commenced since July.”