TENGKU Mahaleel Tengku Ariff has reminded the delegates to think carefully before casting their votes for the new BA of Malaysia (BAM) president, if there is a contest, at the association’s annual general meeting-cum-election on April 29.
Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid has been BAM’s acting president since 2015 after Tengku Mahaleel went on leave of absence due to illness.
Deputy president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria is supposed to take over through a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ when Tengku Mahaleel took leave.
However, the scenario has changed as Al Amin is also keen to challenge for the top post.
Tengku Mahaleel said choosing a new president is not easy as the delegates need to ask themselves the kind of leader they want to steer BAM to ensure the standard of badminton gets better.
“The elected president must be a firm believer of principles and a person who is an all-rounder in administrative aspects.
“Norza and I came in and made a lot of changes. Whatever BAM have achieved of late were mainly because of the administration changes introduced by both of us,” said Tengku Mahaleel yesterday.
Tengku Mahaleel said the first thing he did, when he was elected president in 2013, was to build closer ties with the National Sports Council and the National Sports Institute.
“From there, we changed the structure of coaching and training. And as a result, Malaysia became runners-up in the Thomas Cup in 2014, followed by successes achieved by Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and Goh Jin Wei.
“The success of three silver medals from the Rio Olympics was also a result of changes made by BAM when Norza and I came in,” said Tengku Mahaleel, who confirmed that he will not defend his post in the election.
Tengku Mahaleel is also upset that his request to BAM to reintroduce the Inter-State Championships was not heeded.
“I am upset as I had requested BAM to do it before I took leave. But until today there is nothing. The vision for the championships was to discover new talents in the states,” he added.
Meanwhile Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria confirmed that he is ready to challenge for the presidential’s post.
“I am ready to take on the post of president. I was handed the mandate by Tengku Mahaleel to uphold my responsibilities mainly as the chairman of CNT (Coaching and Training Committee) and it was at that point that I realised it was a process in order to prepare me for the president’s position,” said Norza after yesterday’s Sea Games Federation executive committee meeting.
“As leaders of the BAM, we need to maintain the tradition of not having any power struggle that would spell the end of an organisation if it goes out of hand but I hope that we will find a solution before the council converges.”