Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s men’s singles World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia who was sued by his former coach Indra Wijaya for breach of contract after ending their working relationship prematurely in November 2022, was given 7 days by a mediator to reach a settlement with Wijaya.
According to News Straits Times of Malaysia, Wijaya’s lawyer confirmed that Team Lee Zii Jia which consists of Lee’s father, Lee Chee Hin, Lee’s uncle, and lawyer Bryan Soong had met with Wijaya and Wijaya’s legal team at the Industrial Relations Department (JPP) on Thursday.
“The mediator, Nor Asyrin Baharudin (a JPP officer) got a chance to hear from both sides, but the lawyers waited outside because the hearing was only limited to them,” said Wijaya’s lawyer, Muhammad Yazid.
“Both parties were given 7 days to work on a settlement or a reply. If they failed to do that, we’ll need to bring the case for a full hearing at the Industrial Court of Malaysia,” said Yazid.
Lee Zii Jia resigned from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January 2022 to become a professional player. About one month after Lee’s resignation from BAM, Wijaya who was a coach at BAM at that time also left BAM to join Lee’s team, signing a contract that was set to expire after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Their collaboration was off to a strong start as Wijaya guided Lee to win the Badminton Asia Championships and the Thailand Open. However, Lee suffer from severe performance degradation in the second half of 2022, which led to Wijaya being let go from his team.
The Malaysian media reported that Lee’s team could be looking to have to compensate Wijaya for 24 months of lost salary if no settlement is reached on the seventh day.
