KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia's fans should stop barking up the wrong tree, in this case, at Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
Zii Jia's supporters have come together to slam Yeoh and the Road the Gold (RTG) programme on social media after the world No. 11 shuttler decided to not join it.
On Tuesday, at the end of a two-week deadline given to Zii Jia to sign the Letter of Commitment (LOC), the former All England champion turned down the offer.
Yeoh has, since then, said no athlete can be forced into signing the LOC, and it is within their rights to turn down the offer.
However, some of Zii Jia's fans are still harping on the matter.
Among the caustic comments on social media were: "Zii Jia made the right decision. These are the people who wanted him out in the first place, and now they want him to sign in the programme.
"Just because he's now performing again, you want to claim credit?
"Good, now the haters can stop saying Zii Jia is wasting their tax payer's
money."
Former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who is also an RTG committee member, said: "I think everyone needs to understand that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allocated RM20 million for the RTG programme.
"People like me, Datuk Mirnawan (Nawawi) and Datuk Nicol (David) were brought into the programme to help identify what is needed by our local athletes to win medals at the next two Olympics. This is a top-up to the existing Podium Programme.
"Yes, I'm surprised that Zii Jia has decided to say 'no'. He's the first athlete to say 'no' to a government initiative, but that's his choice.
"Why slam Hannah?" said the three-time Olympic silver medallist.
Former BAM high performance director, Datuk James Selvaraj said: "Why bark up the wrong tree (at Yeoh)?
"Like I've said before, Wong Tat Meng is a good coach with a proven track record. Maybe Zii Jia thinks that is good enough for him.
"We need to give him and his team the benefit of the doubt.
"But don't say things like the government doesn't support you or is not behind you, because you made that choice. This has nothing to do with the minister," said James.
Rashid Sidek, a member of the 1992 Thomas Cup-winning squad, said Zii Jia's fans should calm down.
"Zii Jia has a huge following of passionate fans. It's difficult sometimes because anything said can be taken in the wrong way.
"Zii Jia has his own sponsors and perhaps the terms and conditions of the RTG programme don't suit him.
"It's his choice, he feels he can do it on his own. But when you decide to take this path, then you're truly on your own. You can't say the government is not being fair to you or is not lending any support."
The RTG is an elite preparation programme intended to provide top athletes with the additional support to challenge for gold at the Paris Olympics next year, the 2028 Los Angeles Games and other major international competitions.
In addition to sport science, competition exposure and coaching support, RTG athletes also receive a monthly RM3,000 allowance.