National No. 1 badminton player Lee Zii Jia has been banned from participating in any World Badminton Federation-sanctioned tournament for a period of two years by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), following his decision to leave the association.
"After considering all factors, BAM has reached the decision to not register him for any tournaments for the current time period until Jan 18th, 2022," said BAM deputy president Jaharbedeen Mohd Yunoos in a press conference at Malaysian Badminton Academy (ABM) Bukit Kiara.
Lee Zii Jia is not the only badminton athlete to have faced similar circumstances. BAM has also banned the former women's singles Goh Jin Wei, who has recently joined professional club KLRC, for a period of two years starting Oct 31st.
Lee Zii Jia's current predicament with BAM has also caught the attention of international Danish player Viktor Axelsen, who commented the following, thus showing his support for the All-England champion:
Lee Zii Jia's independent decision to leave BAM has evidently caused an avalanche of reaction, which does lead us to a rather gloomy conclusion: Malaysian athletes deserve so much better.
