PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia men’s singles professional player Lee Zii Jia is welcome to utilise all facilities provided by the National Sports Institute (NSI), including physiotherapy experts, throughout the Paris Olympics, which kicks off next Friday (July 26).
NSI chief executive officer, Ahmad Faedzal Ramli, explained that NSI has deployed 20 medical officers to provide support services to all 26 national athletes competing in Paris without any discrimination.
Earlier, Zii Jia had requested through Malaysia’s Chef de Mission, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin, for an additional two accreditation cards to bring a physiotherapist and a sparring partner.
However, the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has not yet confirmed Zii Jia’s request as they have a limited allocation of only 24 cards.
Faedzal added that all national athletes have full access to NSI services, as they will deploy personnel at both the Team Malaysia House and the athletes’ village.
“I want to emphasise here, the services of the NSI team for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are indeed open to all Malaysian athletes representing the country in both sporting events. This has been a longstanding policy that we have always practiced.
“As for Zii Jia’s request, we can provide the service, but there are certain things that need to be discussed since our physiotherapy staff cannot enter the competition arena due to compliance with the host country’s regulations. However, there is no issue for Zii Jia to use our services.
“We will set up our clinic at the athletes’ village and Team Malaysia House, from morning until night, providing sports medicine services, recovery assistance, as well as nutritional and psychological advice to our national athletes,” said Faedzal.
Out of the 26 athletes representing Malaysia in Paris, only four are professional athletes, including Zii Jia.
The other three are women’s singles player, Goh Jin Wei, as well as two golfers, Gavin Kyle Green, who will be competing in the Olympics for the third time, and debutant, Ashley Lau. – July 18, 2024