KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has made a U-Turn by retracting its earlier decision and offering Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) junior singles coaching director Datuk Misbun Sidek an opportunity to end his contract, which expires at the end of the year.
BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, when announcing the decision of a special committee, said the offer was made to Misbun to enable him to guide junior shuttlers who will be competing in the 2023 World Junior Championships in Spokane, Washington, from September 25 to October 8.
“The second offer is (if he (Misbun) is not interested in the first offer, he can meet us and a special task force, to settle the issue amicably so that no party will feel persecuted or sidelined,” he told reporters during a press conference, earlier today.
Mohamad Norza, who came forward to clear the air and resolve the issue, also apologised to Misbun on BAM’s behalf, stating the issue had cropped up due to a miscommunication between both sides.
He said that he was actually informed by BAM deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam, who headed a Special Committee to investigate the failure of the junior squad at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia last month, that Misbun had agreed to end his contract early.
“If Misbun disagrees, I will personally meet him because I have a special relationship with him. I will never disrespect him…we are one big family, we should not be bickering and become enemies when trying to solve this issue,” Mohamad Norza said.
He added that when he became the BAM president in 2017, he suggested to the BAM council that they urge Misbun to return to coaching, following his departure from the national body in 2011.
“My main objective as president was to find a replacement for Datuk Lee Chong Wei, whose career was at the tail-end at the time. I urged Lee to introduce Misbun because he had produced Roslin Hashim and himself,” Mohamad Norza said.
Although the junior squad had failed to produce satisfactory results at the previous World Junior Championships in Santander, Spain, he had urged the national body to retain Misbun for the 2023 Asian Junior Championships.
However, the junior squad failed to make headway in Yogyakarta, losing to Thailand 0 – 3 at the quarterfinal stage in the team event, while no players made it to the semifinals of the individual event and the special committee that was set up to investigate the failure, made the decision to part ways with him.
On Friday (July 28), BAM announced that Misbun had agreed to part ways, but on Monday (July 31), Misbun claimed his services was ended after attending the post-mortem meeting held by the Special Committee.
— Bernama
