THE Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) went overboard in suspending badminton star Lee Zii Jia from playing for two years, a former youth and sports deputy minister said.
“It’s too drastic and can be called oppressive. What makes it worse is that the minister is keeping quiet about it,” said Steven Sim, in a statement.
Lee decided to tender his resignation from BAM on Jan 11 citing that he wanted to play badminton on a professional level.
He had also indicated that he could handle the pressure being mounted on him, stressing that he was not like the legendary Datuk Lee Chong Wei and wanted to achieve his ambitions in his own space.
However, Lee’s decision did not bode well with former Malaysian badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek, who urged BAM on Jan 19 to impose “stern punishment” on anyone who tried to leave the body following Lee’s resignation.
He added that BAM should not give face to Lee, as it would motivate others to do same despite the national badminton body spending time and money training them for years.
Subsequently, the BAM slapped Lee with a two-year ban, which did not augur well among his fans and peers internationally, who took to social media to criticise the national badminton body.
Touching on the matter, Sim lashed out at the BAM for not giving a proper explanation on why such a decision was made against Lee and another local badminton star, Goh Jin Wei, who won the gold medal at the Youth Olympics.
The harsh punishment, the Bukit Mertajam MP added, seemed like warning shot to other BAM players to “toe the line” instead of fixing deep-rooted problems plaguing BAM.
“It looks like they have no plans to fix systemic problems affecting the sports body but were resorting to silencing critics.
“Such action will not help anyone, especially in terms of national sports development,” Sim opined.
He then urged Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu to intervene on the matter instead of keeping mum, while the authorities are getting brickbats from both the local and international sports community.
“Sports is about promoting peace, not oppression. We should be looking at finding a win-win situation instead of ‘killing off’ our number one player’s career,” Sim stressed.
It is to note that Ahmad Faizal had announced that he would be meeting Lee and BAM soon to resolve the matter amicably, following criticism against the latter’s decision.
You’re not a commercial enterprise, BAM
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak echoed Sim’s sentiments, saying Malaysia is now bearing the brunt of international criticism due to BAM’s action.
“Suspending Lee from representing the country for two years is taking things too far as an athlete’s career has a short shelf life.
“I came to know that Lee wanted to leave BAM as he wanted to find his own sponsors and coach. At the same time, BAM is disappointed because they have been investing in Lee since he was 13 years of age.
“But BAM must understand that they are not a commercial enterprise which requires return on investment. It is established to promote and build our badminton sports,” he stressed.
Reminiscing the past, Najib said that former badminton star Roslin Hasim paid almost RM68,000 to leave BAM in 1996 but he was not banned from playing for the country.
“Perhaps, BAM can talk to Lee, Goh and their future sponsors for a reasonable compensation to be paid?” the Pekan MP queried. – Jan 22, 2022
