Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is instituting new standard operating procedure (SOP) to combat match-fixing activities at the national level.
The new regulation could lead to ban the alleged players for life if found guilty for match-fixing.
Jadadish Chan who is a member of BAM’s Rules, Disciplinary and Integrity Committee said he would present the new regulatory proposal to get the approval from BAM Council.
“This rule is already at BWF (World Badminton Federation) level, so we will submit this proposal to the national level and it will be evaluated by the Rules, Disciplinary and Integrity Committee,” said Chandra.
“We should have this rule in place because we do not want this to happen again,” added Chandra.
“The punishment really depends on the seriousness of the issue, and maximum sentence would be lifetime suspension,” stressed Chandra.
The match-fixing scandal rocked the badminton world three weeks ago when two Malaysian professional players faced six counts of arranging matches in six different tournaments between 2013 and 2016, following a report made by a Denmark player to BWF.
Chandra’s proposal has received widespread support from BAM players and coaches, as the reigning Malaysia national champion Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin said BAM took the right steps in fighting the math-throwing issues.
“I do agree with BAM’s decision, there is no reason for BAM players to be involved in match-fixing, as BAM provides us with shelter, food, drink and allowances,” said Zulkarnain.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles coach, Rosman Razak, also applauded BAM’s actions of being proactive in preventing the match-fixing activities from spreading among BAM players.
“I am glad BAM takes very fast actions on this. Players should be aware of their responsibilities, they need to know what the consequences are when it comes to these unethical and shameful conducts,” said Rosman.
