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More bad news regarding the inaugural KL City Grand Prix, slated to kick off in just two weeks, from August 7 to 9 – the Malay Mail reports that the event has yet to even receive approval from the country's Sport Commissioner's Office.

Sports commissioner Datuk Zaiton Othman said that she was unaware if organiser GT Global Race has even applied for a licence to host the event; failing to do so could lead the company to breach the Sports Development Act 1997, potentially resulting in a fine of up to RM5,000 or a jail term or both.

"I doubt this race can go on as there has not been any application to my office," she said. "Under the Sports Development Act, the organiser must obtain a licence from us."

However, Zaiton added that she was unsure if a direct application was made to youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who has prerogative powers to approve international sporting events. The minister visited certain portions of the track on Wednesday, together with GT Global Race ambassador Alex Yoong, chairman Tunku Naquiyuddin Tuanku Ja'afar, CEO M. Arrasu and race technical director Simon Gardini.

The English language daily could not contact Khairy, who is currently in the United States, but it met with Arrasu on Wednesday; the latter said that he was unaware of the need to file an application. "If needed we will put in an application," he said.

Zaiton said that, unlike GT Global Race, the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) has previously applied for licences for motoring events, including the Formula One Malaysia Grand Prix. "SIC makes applications to us all the time – even for Formula One – and we have given our approval," she said.

Meanwhile, some digging around at the KL City GP website has revealed that the previously-announced Audi R8 LMS Cup and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia one-make races have been dropped from this year's event, meaning that the race series set to appear have been whittled down to four.

These include the one-make Lamborghini Super Trofeo Cup, Formula Masters and the KL GT City Cup, as well as an exhibition run of the Australian V8 Supercars series. The latter is set to become a proper full championship round for four years starting from next year.

The KL City Grand Prix has met with some criticism recently, including a lack of publicity and information, a loss of income for taxi drivers as well as safety concerns with regards to the fences that have been put up along the race route.