BAM may send rep for shuttlers’ match-fixing hearing
PETALING JAYA: A Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) representative may attend the hearing of two Malaysian shuttlers involved in matchfixing scheduled to be held in Singapore from Feb 2627.
The national body have submitted a request to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for them to be one of the observers.
BAM president Datuk Norza Zakaria said the BWF were positive with their request. And BAM’s general manager Michelle Chai had been in communication with the world body.
“We’ve asked to attend the hear ing and the BWF have been positive about it. Michelle is working out on the necessary steps,” said Norza.
Two former internationals are currently being investigated for matchfixing.
One of them used to be a top junior player while the other was a former Thomas Cupper in his 30s.
In a press conference held last week, Norza did not drop any names but said the two players were not under the BAM fold.
Although the duo are not BAM players, Norza said the national body were keen to attend the hearing as they wanted a better under standing of the incident.
“We need to understand the case, and being the body in charge of the development of badminton in this country, we need to ensure that we take the necessary steps to prevent such cases from happening again,” said Norza.
“We also need to see that the hearing is done fairly and professionally. The BAM are not defending the players. The best we can do is to apply for a watching brief. I repeat that we do not condone and defend matchfixers,” added Norza.
Meanwhile, BWF secretarygeneral Thomas Lund chose not to comment when asked about the matchfixing issue.
“We do not have any comments. Sorry,” said Lund via a text message.
It is the second time that the matchfixing issue in badminton had surfaced in Malaysia.
In 2014, two Danish players HansKristian Vittinghus and Kim Astrup Sorensen claimed that a Malaysian bookie had approached them to sell matches during the Japan Open and the BWF reported it to the Malaysian police and the case was said to be investigated by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC).