Two national shuttlers warned for outburst on social media

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia has issued warning letters to two doubles players after they were found tarnishing the image of the country’s badminton.

BAM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said Goh V Shem and Goh Soon Huat were the first players to be given warning letters following their actions which did not reflect the good attitude of national senior players.

He said BAM did not prevent players under their patronage to be active in the social media but they should adhere to the set guidelines.

“As players, they have a contract with BAM, such actions should not have taken place regardless of whether they are junior, young or senior players, they should comply with the regulations.

“We do not prevent players from being involved in social media but they have to follow the set guidelines,” he told reporters after the 73rd BAM annual general meeting at Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.

V Shem and Soon Huat were chastened after they uploaded an entry on their Instagram social sites which questioned the absence of badminton bigwigs in the bronze medal deciding match at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast two weeks ago.

In the entry, Soon Huat said, “Is the bronze medal match not important?”

V Shem posted, “Players were fighting for the bronze medal but top people were missing after we lost in the semifinals.”

Meanwhile, Mohamad Norza said the announcement on the line-up of players to represent the country in the Thomas and Uber Cup would be made after the Coaching and Training Committee meeting on May 3.

He said there may be major changes of players for the tournament scheduled in Bangkok, Thailand from May 20 to 27.

“All players would be evaluated during the meeting and there maybe changes in the names but we will wait until that day,” he said.

In another development, Mohamad Norza said the line-up of national players including young players would be undergoing training at Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku Island as preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He said BAM and the prefecture authority would be signing a memorandum of understanding to finalise the matter in July.

He said in principle all expenditure including accommodation and so on would be borne by the prefecture authority as well as training facilities. – Bernama