KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has strongly refuted comments made by several former players regarding the use of apparel by independent players training at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
BAM deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam, taken aback by the allegations made by several former players, reaffirmed the requirement for the use of conflicting attire by independent players in ABM had been introduced several years ago.
“This rule on the use of non-BAM sponsor apparel by independent players training at our academy is certainly not something new.
“Independent players preparing for major team events trained with us and followed this rule. Shockingly, some former players have chosen to make an issue of this now,” he said in a statement today.
Subramaniam added it is a contractual obligation to only use the sponsor’s attire at the academy.
Should BAM fail to abide by this obligation, it would be a clear breach of the contract and could lead to financial repercussions.
“If BAM is affected financially, it could affect our ability to support the players at the academy. We only ask that the independent players keep their attire free of competitor branding. Plain sportswear without any branding is a non-issue,” he said.
The ruling applies to apparel only, and independent players can use their own sponsors’ racquets and shoes when training at the academy.
As such, Subramaniam hopes all parties including players will put the issue to rest and focus on the upcoming Badminton World Championships 2023 in Copenhagen from August 21 to August 27.
Yesterday, former national men’s singles shuttler Roslin Hashim was reported as saying he was made to understand the rules are still new, since no issues had arisen with professional players who underwent training with BAM before.
He was responding to the claim made by Team LZJ coaching director Wong Tat Meng on his Instagram post, expressing surprise at the matter and feeling like he was being ‘bullied’ by ‘big shots’, considering the rules were enforced ahead of the world meet in Copenhagen.
In the meantime, professional men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia, in the comments section of Wong’s post, said: “Do not say that I am ‘big-headed’ for not coming to training… it is so hard to be LZJ, it is all my fault, I am dizzy.”
— Bernama
