BAM boss Norza says sorry to Misbun after offering olive branch, will step down in December

PETALING JAYA: Surprise, surprise!

Datuk Misbun Sidek looks set to return as the national junior singles coaching director after the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria offered him an opportunity to end his contract that runs until end of the year.

But there’s a twist to the saga.

Yesterday, Norza dropped a bombshell by saying that he will step down at the end of the year.

Norza, 56, took over from Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff as the president in 2017 and had initially planned to relinquish his position after the Paris Olympics in August next year as he wanted to witness Malaysia winning their first gold.

However, Norza said he wanted to shorten his tenure as he feels the time was right for another suitable candidate who has the passion for the sport and can bring in the funds to take over.

He also said that there are a few candidates he has identified and will announce their names to the BAM council for deliberation to single out the best candidate.

“I want to announce today that I want to shorten my tenure as the BAM president and will step down at the end of this year,” said Norza.

“I have identified some suitable candidates and will table it to the council to decide.

“Previously, I had announced to the council on my decision to step down immediately after the Paris Olympics in August next year. However, I believe we have to finalise the candidate who can take over from me at the beginning of next year.”

Norza’s announcement came out of the blue at the press conference at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) as everyone thought he would either fire back or clear the air on Misbun’s termination as the national junior coaching director.

But Norza not just tendered his apology to Misbun but also made an open offer for him to complete his contract until the end of the year and also guide the singles players at the World Junior Championships in Washington from Sept 25-Oct 8.

Misbun had voiced his displeasure two days ago, saying that he had no choice but to accept his termination letter although his contract still ran until the end of the year.

His biggest disappointment was that BAM did not give the chance for him to guide his players at the world junior meet where he wanted to show better results.

Norza said he has a special relationship with Misbun and personally approached him with the presence of singles legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei to coax the experienced coach to return and train the national singles players in 2017.

“I have a special relationship with Misbun and I had personally invited him to become a national coach in order to create the next Lee Chong Wei,” said Norza.

“Since BAM’s financial situation wasn’t strong, I even paid half of his salary while the other half was borne by the association. He is a (coaching) legend and has contributed a lot to the sport.

“We have mutual respect and he even had said that his only boss is ‘Norza’. We had given him all the liberties to run his programme without any interference from our side.

“I would like to apologise to Misbun if he felt slighted as I believe there has been miscommunication in handling the termination of his contract.

“The decision was reached by the task force committee of the council, which was notified to me and I would like to take responsibility for what had transpired.

“I want to offer him to complete his contract until the end of the year and also guide the players at the world junior in the US.

“If Misbun is not willing to return, then we will discuss and I will also meet to reach an amicable situation.

“We respect Misbun as a legend and his contribution and we don’t want him to feel that he had been mistreated.”

Norza also added that the BAM council had already wanted Misbun to resign after Malaysia’s failure to do well at last year’s world junior championships in Santender, Spain but he was against the decision.

“After the failure at the World Juniors last year, I was pressured by the council members but I have given Misbun many opportunities but I insisted that he should be given the trust to take our juniors to higher level.

“And throughout his stint as coach, I have made sure that he was given a free hand to run the programme and we will continue to so if he decides to take up my offer.”

Norza’s diplomatic and genuine offer may have a positive outcome as Misbun’s passion is coaching and he should use the opportunity to complete his unfinished job with his charges at the World Juniors.