KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) does not begrudge Lee Zii Jia for asking to be compensated for wearing the national jersey at the Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China, on April 27-May 5.
BAM head of administration, Michelle Chai, said Zii Jia, as a professional not under the national body, is entitled to make such a request on commercial grounds.
She said the situation arose because BAM requires Zii Jia's services to form the strongest team to challenge for the Thomas Cup.
"This agreement is only for the Thomas Cup. For future tournaments, it depends on the situation. If BAM does not need the services of independent players, this matter will not arise again.
"It's all about 'supply and demand'.
"Everyone needs to understand, sports have now become an industry, we have full-time athletes and sports officials. If they can't earn a living, who would want to get in?
"So, we need to be fair to Zii Jia because he does not receive the benefits that the players have under BAM's sponsorship," she said.
Michelle emphasised that all parties need to move forward according to the current times and should not dwell too much on the past.
"It involves not only payment but also our training methods or systems for players or athletes. Is it suitable for the current times or do we need to make changes?
"The world today is different, not the same as before," she added.
Michelle had earlier confirmed that world No. 11 Zii Jia will receive compensation for wearing the national jersey in every match he plays at the Thomas Cup.
Team LZJ, in a statement, clarified that the compensation is related to his image rights as a professional player.
On Saturday, former international, Datuk James Selvaraj, stressed that playing for the country is more important than anything else, including money.
James, who was BAM's former high performance director, believes that only former world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is qualified to speak about image rights based on his achievements.