Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz timely call gives 16 youngsters fresh hope.
PETALING JAYA: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has stepped in to allow the 16 players to compete in the Junior Elite Tour competition, starting on Wednesday in Johor.
The 16 players aged between 11-16 found their names removed from the tournament list earlier.
14 of the players are schooling in Selangor, one in Kuala Lumpur and one in Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) and were denied entry because they were representing Putrajaya instead of the states they were schooling in.
After appeals from Putrajaya Badminton Association (PJBA) president Datuk Seri Khairuddin Samad and the parents of the players, Zafrul has overturned the national body's decision and gave his approval for the players to compete.
Zafrul though said that the decision was one-off and a special exemption would be given for the players to compete this time.
"Regarding the Junior Elite Tour, starting on Wednesday (Feb 4), it is important for me to explain the chronology of events, so there will be not be assumptions that this rule was introduced suddenly," said Zafrul via social media.
"The rule regarding junior players representing their states was decided during the BAM council meeting on Oct 18 last year and has been in place since Nov 10, which is much earlier than the tournament.
"Under this rule, junior players must represent the states that they are schooling in during competitions in accordance with the Malaysian School Sports Council (MSSM) ruling.
"If any state association want players, who are not representing the state where they are schooling in compete, then they need to get official release letters earlier from the players' original state associations.
"In this case, after careful consideration regarding the welfare of the players and their parents, I have decided to give a special exemption for the players to represent Putrajaya and compete this time.
"I want to make it clear though that this exemption is a one-off and only for the first round of the Junior Elite Tour.
"For other tournaments moving forward, PJBA need to follow all the decisions made by the BAM council and get prior approval from the players' respective state associations before representing states other than their own.
"I will also like to thank the Selangor Badminton Association (SBA) as they were willing to allow the players to compete despite not getting approval to do so.
"Moving forward, all parties must follow the process that has been decided to avoid confusion and also to ensure that the development of junior badminton in the country continues fairly, consistently and based on players' welfare," added Zafrul.
