Peace of mind: Cheah Liek Hou is currently competing in the China Para International which ends on Sunday.
PETALING JAYA: Para shuttler Cheah Liek Hou is grateful for the overwhelming support just hours after the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) announced that they will take action against him for speaking out.
Liek Hou had criticised PCM on his social media for failing to deliver on their promise of rewarding him RM60,000 for winning gold at the Paris Paralympics – a year after the showpiece event.
However, PCM president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin denied making such promise to the 37-year-old and said the council had decided to take action against Liek Hou for allegedly “slandering” the organisation.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has strongly backed Liek Hou while his fans too continue to stand firmly by his side.
“Sponsors want to support and celebrate athletes’ achievements, not just to provide funding for PCM,” said Hannah via social media.
“This is not the way to treat Liek Hou, who has brought glory to Malaysia.
“Liek Hou is a hardworking athlete. Every time he competes, he wins medals for Malaysia.
“He did not cross any disciplinary lines. He is merely asking for what he was promised a year after he won gold in the Paris Paralympics.”
This is not a disciplinary issue but caused by the delay by PCM.
Liek Hou is under the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and is fully funded by the National Sports Council (NSC).
“Any decisions regarding him should not be made solely by PCM. PCM have no right to make any decisions on their own,” added Hannah.
Liek Hou thanked the minister for the support and, said: “Right now, I just want focus on my competition in China. I think winning competitions is my priority right now.”
Liek Hou is currently competing in the China Para International which ends on Sunday.
Yesterday, Megat claimed that he had informed Liek Hou that the delay in giving the incentives was because one of the sponsors had wanted to deliver the reward in person.
“We never promised him RM60,000. I don’t know how he came up with this amount,” said Megat in a press conference at the Paralympics Sports Centre in Kampung Pandan yesterday.
“We told him that the total we received from sponsors for all the medal winners was only RM55,000. We already explained this to him. If he was still unsure, he should have clarified with us first before posting on social media.
“Saying that we scammed him is a very serious accusation and is slanderous.
“This tarnishes our image when we have been working so hard to get sponsors.
“We are now going to take legal action against him. We will be sending show cause letters to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and National Sports Council (NSC).
“This could lead to him being banned from competitions (2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya and 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles).”
Megat then said that Liek Hou and powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who also won gold, will be given RM25,000 each.
“Two sponsors, Zero Healthcare and B. Grimm Power, have agreed to reward the medal winners,” said Megat.
“We will be banking the rewards into the athletes’ accounts today (yesterday).”
Meanwhile, silver medallists Abdul Latif Romly and Ziyad Zolkefi will receive RM15,000 each while bronze medallist Eddy Bernard will get RM8,000.
