Smash ’em down!

"Well done to BWF for coming down hard on these people who are attempting to ruin the image of the sport". - Tan Sri Norza Zakaria

PETALING JAYA: It’s just one week into the new year but the Badminton World Federation (BWF) wasted no time in fixing the fixers in the sport as a stern and timely reminder for all before the new season starts.

The world governing body have slapped three Indonesian shuttlers and a Malaysian individual with lifetime bans for committing offences relating to betting, wagering and irregular match results.

Also punished were six more Indonesian shuttlers who were suspended for between six to 12 years and fined.

The BWF’s announcement comes just days before the restart of next week’s Asian leg of the World Tour in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Malaysian individual was identified as Lim Ze Young in the report released by the BWF. The offender isn’t a shuttler, but a representative of an equipment brand.

Ze Young was found guilty of five integrity charges against him, including approaching two international shuttlers to manipulate matches at the 2014 Japan Open.

For Malaysian badminton, it’s certainly embarrassing to make the headlines for the wrong reason again after two shuttlers Tan Chun Seang and Zulfadli Zulkiffli were banned 15 years and 20 years respectively for match-fixing.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria has welcomed the stern action from the BWF.

“Well done to BWF for coming down hard on these people who are attempting to ruin the image of the sport, ” said Norza.

“We at BAM have always practised zero tolerance for any form of betting or match-fixing.

“Thus, BAM will always support such endeavour by BWF to eradicate these integrity related issues because there’s simply no place for cheating and dishonesty in the sport.

The BWF, in a statement yesterday, revealed that they have been investigating Ze Young for years.

The Integrity Unit had opened investigations on him in 2014 after they were notified by two players who became whistleblowers of the case.

Ze Young was also penalised for failing to report to the BWF on an attempt to fix the outcome of matches, facilitating another person to bet on several BWF-sanctioned tournaments in 2017, failing to cooperate with the world body on the investigation and threatening a player.

According to the Internal Hearing Panel’s decision published yesterday, even during the ongoing investigation, Ze Young had even threatened another international player whom he had befriended and helped to settle gambling debts in 2017.

Ze Young was said to have imposed an interest rate between 20% to 25% for the money he had lent and pressured the player to repay the debt.

He threatened the player that if he did not do so, then he would expose the latter’s gambling habit on social media.

“The panel also found that the individual had approached international badminton athletes and offered money to manipulate matches, bet on multiple badminton matches including matches involving players that were sponsored by the individual’s employer and had abused his position of influence as an executive in a sporting brand in an attempt to corrupt international badminton and enrich himself, ” said the BWF.

“Due to the nature of the breaches and this person’s access to and influence over players his company sponsored, the panel has also suspended the individual from badminton-related activities for life.”