In-demand Misbun may take up offer to coach in another country

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Misbun Sidek is looking at several coaching offers from different countries in Asia and Europe.

In a special press conference held Sunday (Aug 20), Misbun said several countries have offered him a job to coach their senior team after his service was ended by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) recently.

He will decide soon and if he takes up the offer, his main task is to produce the fourth world No. 1 player.

Under his guidance, Lee Chong Wei, Mohd Roslin Hashim and Rashid Sidek had helmed the No. 1 spots.

“I’ve received about four to five offers from different countries. I’m thinking about it,” said Misbun.

“I don’t want to reveal who they are yet. I want to take a short break, think about these offers before making a decision.

“I’ve never left the country before this as I only wanted to coach our own players and my wife was sick then too.

“Now that my wife has passed away and I’m not tied down with anyone, I’m open to coaching abroad.

“Badminton is in my blood. I’m still excited to accomplish great things in badminton, I believe I can produce another world No. 1 player if I’m given the free hand to pass on my knowledge in badminton,” he said.

Misbun also said that he turned down the offer to return to BAM as he did not want to disrupt the players’ preparation for the upcoming World Junior Championships.

“I’ve been away for two weeks and I think it’s not right to return as the juniors would have settled down and adapted to other programmes. I think this is the best decision,” he said.

“I’m grateful that BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria had met up with me and given me an opportunity to return to BAM before the end of this year.

“He said sorry for the miscommunication. I’m glad it’s all settled but it’s best that I move on,” he added.

Last month, BAM ended Misbun’s contract prematurely as the national junior coaching director, and that decision did not go down well with Misbun.

He felt hurt and betrayed as BAM had coaxed him to take up the job in 2017.