PETALING JAYA: Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, caught in a controversy over his family members’ attendance in the Paris Olympics, has confirmed that he will be quitting as Badminton Association of Malaysia president.
“Seeing all these responses, my feeling right now, I am just going to say that I am resigning soon from BAM, which many people are aware of.
“I hope the next leader can improve the state of badminton affairs in our country,” said Norza, who had earlier announced that he would be leaving after the Olympics.
Norza has clarified that his wife and son, who were photographed sitting with him during the badminton men’s doubles bronze medal match, had been part of his “personal allocation” and did not come under the team accreditation quota given to each National Olympic Committee (NOC).
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) provides additional accreditation cards for the president and secretary-general of each NOC. My family is here using this allocation, and which only allows them to access VIP seating areas,” he said.
“My family has been following me for badminton events for many years now. Every time they travel, all their expenses are paid by myself.”
Norza said he was doing pro-bono work as president of OCM and BAM. “I do not receive any salary from both organisations or allowances. I want to help bring glory and pride to our nation. This attack on my family is absolutely unnecessary and my family do not need to go through such scrutiny,” he said.
BAM administrative director Michelle Chai also came to Norza’s defence, saying all rules had been followed and Norza should not be cyberbullied.
“IOC indeed give accreditation to NOC president and secretary-general. Each of them gets one accompanying guest and on the card, they will have the letters “NOC**”.
“Just like athletes, officials should also not be cyber-bullied. Please understand the issue before making comments. If we don’t like a person, doesn’t mean everything he does is bad.”
Meanwhile, Norza said the team have actually “overachieved” in Paris.
“Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah qualified for the semi-finals. Then the mixed doubles pair got to the quarter-finals. Goh Jin Wei didn’t pass the first round because of the tough draw. The teams won two bronzes through Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles) and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles).”
“Overall, I’m happy with the performance and we got the two bronze,” said the BAM president.
