KUALA LUMPUR – The Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) is set to take disciplinary action against national para swimmer Zy Lee Ker and his father for tarnishing the image of the council and the Malaysian Para Swimming Association (Prepma).
The council’s response comes after Lee Ker made an emotional plea for help to Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, claiming that he was sidelined from competing at the Paris Paralympics.
Lee Ker argued that he should not have been assigned the bipartite (wild card) slot and deserves to be sent to Paris based on merit.
According to PCM, the Penang-born athlete with six international medals, including two bronze medals at last year’s Hangzhou Asian Para Games, will be charged with breaching the athletes’ code of conduct set by the National Sports Council (NSC).
Speaking to Scoop, PCM president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin said the disciplinary action against Lee Ker would teach athletes not to take things for granted and to seek clarification from the council before acting independently.
Megat also said that Lee Ker’s father, Walter Lee, an executive member at Prepma, is expected to be charged for abusing his power and stirring up controversy with World Para Swimming (WPS) without consulting the governing body.
“Things would have been better if both father and son had sought our clarification instead of taking matters into their own hands. All they did was assume and never fact-check.
“NSC already has a code of conduct, and whatever Lee Ker said in the video was baseless. We don’t send athletes based on rankings; athletes are evaluated based on their timing, and that’s how it works in WPS, which we take very seriously.
“To be honest, I don’t blame Lee Ker too much in this matter. At the end of the day, the person stirring the controversy is his father, Walter, without knowing what he is doing.
“At PCM and Prepma, we have always been transparent with our selection process and have never engaged in any dubious activities, as Lee Ker’s father is speculating. He has created a bad name for us by spreading lies to WPS, which has given us and the country a bad image.
“We haven’t decided how severe the disciplinary actions will be, but we will decide after selecting the swimming athletes for the Paris Paralympics on July 18,” said Megat when contacted.
For the record, Malaysia has two slots for the para-swimming event in Paris, and Prepma is expected to send Nur Syaiful Zulkafli and Imaan Aiman Redzuan.
Imaan is in the S14 category (intellectual impairment), while Lee Ker competes in the S5 and SB4 categories (physical impairment).
Lee Ker is ranked number 7 in the men’s 200m freestyle S5, number 10 in the 100m freestyle S5, and number 11 in the 100m breaststroke SB4.
Imaan is ranked number 14 in the 100m backstroke S14.
PCM will make a decision on Thursday on whom they will be sending to the Games.
Previously, it was reported that PCM secretary-general and Paris Paralympics chef de mission First Admiral (rtd) Datuk Subramaniam Raman Nair made it clear that the selection was based on the athletes’ ability to win medals.
Subramaniam added that Prepma had applied for an additional wildcard slot for Lee Ker, but the International Paralympic Committee rejected the application.
This year’s Paralympics are scheduled from August 28 to September 8. – July 16, 2024