BANGKOK: By midnight tomorrow, if the Badminton World Federation (BWF) do not hear from Zulfadli Zulkiffli, the former world junior champion can kiss goodbye to his career in this sport.
The BWF confirmed today that they had not heard from the Malaysian after he was slapped with a 20-year ban and a US$25,000 (RM98,000) fine for match-fixing earlier this month.
And the deadline for Zulfadli to file an appeal with the world body is midnight tomorrow.
If the independent shuttler fails to make his appeal within the stipulated time frame, he will not be able to challenge the case — even at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Zulfadli, found guilty by an independent hearing panel following a two-day hearing in Singapore on Feb 26-27, had cried foul, accusing the BWF of unfairly trying him without solid evidence.
The 2011 world junior champion also made it clear that he would challenge the hearing panel's decision by filing for an appeal.
BAM confirmed that the 25-year-old had written in to them, requesting for assistance with the appeal process.
However, as of today, BWF had not heard from the player.
BWF secretary-general Thomas Lund said: "Zulfadli has yet to file for an appeal with the BWF.
"And the deadline for him to do so is by midnight on May 21."
On May 2, Zulfadli Zulkiffli and another Malaysian shuttler, Tan Chun Seang, were found guilty by a three-man independent panel consisting of James Kitching, Sylvia Schenk and Annabel Pennefather.
The panel revealed that Zulfadli and Chun Seang were found to have committed match-fixing in six tournaments: London Open GP Gold (2013), Dutch Open GP (2013), Korea Open GP Gold (2014), Macau Open GP (2014), US Open GP (2014) and Brazil Open GP Gold (2016).
From the full report of the panel, it was learnt that the WhatsApp messages (mainly in Bahasa Malaysia) between the two shuttlers (from Sept 27, 2013, to Dec 12, 2014), was used as the main evidence against them.
The panel found that Chun Seang had committed 26 violations of the 2012 Code of Conduct in Relation to Betting Wagering and Irregular Match Results while Zulfadli committed 27 violations of the 2012 Code of Conduct in Relation to Betting Wagering and Irregular Match Results and four violations of the 2016 Code of Conduct in Relation to Betting Wagering and Irregular Match Results.
The shuttlers' match-fixing activities first surfaced when the BWF, through their whistle-blower system, received a report from a player, who claimed that Zulfadli had approached him to manipulate a match at the 2016 Brazil Open.
Under Clause 14 of the BWF Judicial Procedures, both the shuttlers have the right to file an appeal, but with one more day remaining, will they do it?