KUALA LUMPUR — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has refused to intervene in the latest spat involving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and the country’s professional men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia.
Hannah said it would be better for both parties to internally resolve the issue regarding the apparel used for training at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
She also declined to comment on whether the issue could affect Zii Jia’s performance, which had been on a downward trend of late.
“I haven’t spoken to Zii Jia yet. Let BAM solve this issue, just keep it to an apparel issue and not an attitude issue,” she said at a press conference after launching the Kuala Lumpur Women’s Super League (KLWSL) 2023 football tournament here, today.
Meanwhile, Hannah said she believed Team LZJ coaching director Wong Tat Meng should be given time to focus on strategic efforts to improve Zii Jia’s performance.
On Wednesday, Tat Meng in a post on his Instagram page said he was really surprised and felt like he was being ‘bullied’ after BAM required professional players not to don sportswear from brands other than those sponsored by the parent body if they wished to train at ABM.
Zii Jia, in a comment on Tat Meng’s post, said: “Don’t say later that I am ‘big-headed’ for not coming to training. Aishhhhh… it’s so hard to be LZJ, it’s all my fault, (I’m having a) headache.”
BAM Deputy President I Datuk V Subramaniam in a statement yesterday said the rules were only for clothing and professional players were allowed to use rackets and shoes from their respective sponsor brands when training at ABM.
On Thursday, national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei told Scoop that he is disappointed and furious with Zii Jia and Tat Meng for accusing the national governing body of bullying professional players.
The former international believes that the pair have gotten it wrong in this matter, adding that they are just trying to make a big fuss over a small issue, just to blame the national body for everything and anything. — August 19, 2023