Academy head’s arrival on hold due to Covid-19
The new Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) chief executive officer Robert Gambardella has been delayed.
The 62-year-old American, who was supposed to start work on Aug 1, is still awaiting for the green light to fly into the country.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary Datuk Kenny Goh said they were hopeful of securing immigration clearance for Gambardella by early next month.
“It’s not certain yet (when Gambardella would be able to start) as we are still working on his entry,” said Kenny.
“We are targeting for him to fly in hopefully in early September.”
Even if all goes well, Gambardella is not expected to start at least until the middle of September, as he will be required to fulfil a 14-day quarantine requirement as well.
The long-serving sports administrator was hired by BAM on a twoyear contract and has been tasked with overseeing the entire operation of ABM that houses 120 players from the national senior and junior squads.
It is run on a budget of RM5mil per annum, funded by the government for two years until next year.
Gambardella’s key performance index will be to turn the centre of excellence into a self-sustainable outfit by 2022.
The ABM, which was built at a cost of RM30mil and opened in 2017, boasts state-of-the-art facilities comprising 18 fully-carpeted courts, mini Sports Science Centre, gymnasium, auditorium and hostel.
BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said the hiring of Gambardella as CEO would complete the ABM set-up that has been coming together over the last few years.
Gambardella impressed the BAM top brass with his long list of impressive credentials, particularly his successful seven-year stint (2009-2016) in Singapore as the country’s Sports Institute chief, which yielded a historic first Olympics gold medal through swimmer Joseph Schooling.
The other positions he had held previously were as the chief operation officer USA Shooting, CEO of USA Taekwondo and various top roles with the United States Olympic Committee.