SUCH is the degree of furore levelled at the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) by Malaysians over the accreditation controversy following revelation that its president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria has brought along his wife and son to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Caught on camera watching the men doubles bronze medal play-off between Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world’s No.2 Danish pair of Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Norza who is also the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president has apparently cleared the air that he is entitled to a special allocation to bring his own guests.
“This quota is distinct and unrelated to the accreditation cards issued to athletes and the national team,” Malaysiakini had quoted him as saying with OCM making it clear that Norza borne all expenses related to his family’s travel personally ‘with the OCM and IOC (International Olympic Committee) only facilitating his arrangements”.
While the accreditation saga spotlight first fell on national women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei’s coach Nova Armada who was unable to travel to Paris due to insufficient cards issued by the IOC, it eventually spilled over to professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia who ousted India’s Lakshya Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in the bronze medal play-off.
This came about as the 26-year-old Kedahan was unable to secure additional accreditation cards for his physiotherapist and personal sparring partner to accompany him to Paris.
Regardless, Zii Jia’s manager and sister Zii Yii had said that the members of Zii Jia’s team would still pay out of their own pocket to accompany the nation’s top-ranked shuttler to Paris “with only coach (Wong) Tat Meng to stay in the athletes’ village with Zii Jia”.
Nonetheless, the Youth and Sports Ministry did in early July disburse a grant totalling RM300,000 to professional shuttlers and golfers to ease their financial burden “as they compete in qualifying events, exposure competitions, training camps and sparring sessions”. The recipients included Zii Jia, Jin Wei, and professional golfers Gavin Green and Ashley Lau.
Despite this, a tsunami of criticism has engulfed social media platform seeking for heads to roll with even Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and her deputy Adam Adli, a first-term PKR MP, not spared.
“Let them not forget this. Team LZJ was self-funded,” berated Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy CEO Azrul Mohd Khalib in a post on the X platform that has garnered 1.1 million views at the time of writing.
“Hold the OCM leadership accountable. They need to be replaced. Despicable. Team LZJ deserve better than this. Zii Jia deserves better.”
Azrul’s post triggered a chain reaction with the most popular comment wanting Sports Minister Yeoh “to come clean with what is the criteria for accreditation for athlete support staff”.
Former Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd general manager Elina Aziz tagged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Yeoh “to stop this is abuse of power and a form of corruption”.
Perhaps the most stinging comment which sums up the ground sentiment among Malaysians who believe that sports is the only institution that unites the nation at this moment is that “Malaysia did not win bronze but Zii Jia did!”
- Focus Malaysia
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