PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob held a meeting with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) top leadership and national men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia today.

BAM was represented by its president Mohamad Norza Zakaria and his two deputies, V. Subramaniam and Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, at the meeting, held at Perdana Putra.

Also present was national women’s singles ace and former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei.

“A beneficial discussion. Alhamdulillah, everything is settled. May our national shuttlers continue to excel on the world stage, and the Jalur Gemilang is hoisted again on the international arena,” Ismail said in a post on his official Facebook page.

On January 21, BAM announced that it would not register Lee for any tournament for two years effective from January 18 after the world no. 7 shuttler tendered his letter to quit BAM on January 11.

However, on January 25, BAM president Norza gave Lee the green light to turn professional after accepting his appeal and holding discussions with the shuttler.

The status of Goh’s appeal, which was sent on January 25, is still unknown after she too was handed a two-year suspension effective from October 31, 2021 for leaving BAM, claiming she wanted to retire due to a health factor last September before making a U-turn to turn professional. – Bernama, January 27, 2022.