KUALA LUMPUR: Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz is still the solitary candidate to contest the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) presidency in conjunction with the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) for the 2025-2029 term.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said so far there were no other nominations for the position but the constitution of the governing body stipulates that the nomination period for the presidency and other seats will be open until election day.
“For now, the only candidate for president is Tengku Zafrul, so there are no additional nominations (for president), for now, we have not heard anything about the nominations (for vice-president and deputy president candidates),“ he told reporters at Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) here today.
In March, BAM acting president Datuk V. Subramaniam announced that the majority of BAM council members had reached a consensus to nominate Tengku Zafrul as the new president.
Subramaniam said the nomination reflected the need for strong and stable leadership to drive the association forward.
Previously, Tengku Zafrul was almost being appointed as BAM president to replace Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, who initially planned to resign early last year.
However, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh asked Mohamad Norza to reconsider the decision and remain in office until the end of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
After the end of the Paris Games, BAM decided to appoint Subramaniam as acting president until the AGM in May.
In January, Datuk Seri Khairudin Abd Samad also offered himself to fill the vacancy of the hot seat based on his experience as BAM vice-president since 2017 and president of the Putrajaya Badminton Association (PjBA) for 15 years.
The BAM election is scheduled to take place this Saturday during the BAM AGM.
In another development, Kenny said BAM would give national women’s doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah time to compete in the next two tournaments before deciding whether to extend their contracts with the parent body.
“We will see about the Pearly-Thinaah contract in the next week or two. Because they have tournaments coming up so we will give them time,“ he said.
