Known as “Cikgu Maniam” in the fraternity since the 1970s, he died of cancer at 9.20am today at his home in Brickfields here.

Malaysia Rugby president Shahrul Zaman Yahya said Maniam, 77, was synonymous with Malaysian rugby and that he had dedicated his life to help develop the sport in the country.

“A very sad moment for the sports fraternity. He was a long-serving official at the national and regional levels. He even officiated the matches my team played in the 1990s.

“Cikgu Maniam also had a very good reputation at the international level, especially in Asian rugby. He guided and educated many of our local referees to officiate matches at the regional level,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Perak Rugby Union vice-president S Sevakumar described Maniam as a very dedicated official, saying that he used to travel 260km using public transport to referee matches in the Klang Valley, when he was serving as a teacher at SMK King Edward VII and headmaster at SJK(T) YMHA in Taiping.

Maniam started his refereeing career in 1975, officiating school-level matches and later gaining recognition to become a national and Asian-level referee in the 1980s. He also officiated the 1985 Asia Cup.

He retired as a referee in 1990 but continued to serve in various roles till his last breath. Among them were as coaching match official, assessor and citing commissioner.

For his contributions, Maniam was awarded the Asian Rugby’s “Carlson Lin” Match Officiating Award in 2014.

The last rites will be performed tomorrow before cremation at the Cheras Crematorium.