KUALA LUMPUR – Many national shuttlers have made the decision to leave the BA of Malaysia (BAM) and go independent in search of greener pastures but some find out the hard way that the grass may not be necessarily greener on the other side.
According to a source in the badminton fraternity and familiar with the matter, some of the independent players have yet to receive payments from their sponsors.
“These players have not received anything since the beginning of the year.
“It is sad as these issues have been ongoing for so long. In this case, only the affected players can help themselves because nobody has any authority to step in – not even BAM.
“It is an agreement between two parties so the player will have to sort it out,” the source told The Vibes.
Meanwhile, an independent player (who wished to remain anonymous), when contacted confirmed the delay in payments from financial backers.
“Yes, there has been some delay but it is being sorted out as the sponsors have agreed to make payment soon.
“We had to reach out to them after being left in the dark for many months. Only then did they respond and inform us that payments will be in soon. However, the sponsors did not give us the reasons behind the delay.
“We must deal with this matter on our own as it was our decision to quit BAM to go independent. We represent ourselves now.”
At the same time, a BAM insider told The Vibes that the national body is also helpless in this matter because they have no authority to interfere.
“We wish we could help them.
“Not to rub salt but players should know that walking out of the national body doesn’t really guarantee financial freedom.
“We hope this issue can be sorted out as soon as possible and the players are paid what has been promised,” said the insider.
Earlier this year, world number seven Lee Zii Jia had officially resigned from BAM.
Zii Jia − along with 2017 SEA Games women’s singles champion Goh Jin Wei − were then handed a two-year ban following the latter’s shocking announcement that she was retiring due to health-related reasons in September of last year.
According to BAM, they were banned from entering any international tournaments for breaching their contract with the association.
After negotiations and submission of appeal letters to BAM, both players had their ban lifted and were allowed to compete in all international events.
The matter had even come to the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and BAM patron Datin Seri Muhaini Zainal Abidin.
It was later revealed that Zii Jia had left the national body to join forces with Taiwanese Sports equipment company Victor while Jin Wei joined the Kuala Lumpur Racket Club (KLRC). – The Vibes, April 21, 2022
