KUALA LUMPUR – Paris Olympics Chef de Mission (CDM), Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin, today clarified that the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) had secured two P (training) and daily passes for bronze medal winner Lee Zii Jia.
Hamidin’s statement came in response to several media reports claiming that the independent men’s singles shuttler was denied two additional accreditation passes for his sparring partner, Lee Shun Yang, and physiotherapist, Rayvadee Rattanakthada (Ray).
While Zii Jia’s coach, Wong Tat Meng, was the only member of Team LZJ to receive the full athlete/coach accreditation card, the P and daily passes still provided Shun Yang and Ray with access to Zii Jia and Tat Meng.
“Regarding the quota or allocation of accreditation for officials and coaches, contrary to reports by certain sections of the media, Zii Jia had his personal coach, Wong Tat Meng, in the Games Village, while his support team, including sparring partners, were given P (training) passes and daily passes to access the player and coach,” Hamidin said at the post-Olympic press conference in Paris.
“Earlier reports had stated that Zii Jia was denied two additional accreditations, but I want to confirm here that OCM had worked things out and secured these passes for Zii Jia, even before he and his team arrived in Paris.”
In a separate statement, Hamidin clarified that women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei was without her coach, Nova Armada, because it had been previously agreed that the Indonesian would stay back to focus on para athlete Cheah Liek Hou and his prospects of defending his gold medal at the upcoming Paris Paralympics.
“With regard to Jin Wei’s coach, Nova Armada’s absence, I must stress that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Jin Wei’s team had already discussed the matter earlier, but at the last minute, Nova agreed to stay back and focus on para badminton player Cheah Liek Hou and his prospects in the Paralympic Games.
“As a result, BAM’s coaching director, Rexy Mainaky, was tasked with monitoring the shuttler’s preparation throughout the Games.
“I must emphasise that the contingent secretariat, headed by OCM as the Olympic body, provided the necessary support in terms of allocation of the support services team for all athletes,” added Hamidin, who is also the president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Despite missing out on the elusive gold medal, badminton, as expected, delivered the only medals for Malaysia in this year’s Olympic campaign.
In addition to Zii Jia, the national men’s doubles duo Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik retained the bronze medal they won at the Tokyo Games three years ago. – August 12, 2024