Badminton Association of Malaysia deeply regrets the unfortunate incident that befell Datuk Wira Lee Chong Wei when he slipped and fell on the courts in the new Badminton Academy of Malaysia and injured his knee last weekend.
We will give Chong Wei all necessary assistance to treat his knee injury and get back to competitive badminton. Hopefully he will recover soon to take part in other international competitions, after missing out on the All-England Championships, and become fully competitive at the World Championships in August 2017.
The rubber mats installed in the new Badminton Academy of Malaysia are similar to some of the rubber mats in the neighbouring Stadium Juara, where the national players previously trained and the recent Celcom Axiata National Circuit Grand Prix Finals was held.
From preliminary enquiries, we believe that the court mats could be slippery because they are new and that there are a lot of dust floating in the air of the building that has settled onto the rubber mats. The Academy building is new and there is ongoing construction work at the adjoining playersâ hostel being constructed resulting in a lot of dust in the vicinity.
The National players hadto shift in to the new Academy to train urgently on 31 January 2017 onwards as we had to hand-over Stadium Juarato the Malaysia Stadium Corporation for renovation to be used for this yearâs SEA Games.
As an immediate remedial action, we have changed 3 courts to old rubber mats used in Stadium Juara previously and mopping the rubber mats at least twice a day to minimise dust on the mats. We will monitor the condition of the courts diligently to ensure the safety of use of the courts in the Academy.
Meanwhile, BAM will make further investigation on the slipperiness of the court mats and the issues raised by Chong Wei. We take this opportunity to thank Chong Wei for his cooperation and will continue to seek his opinion to improve the Academy.
Lastly, BAM wish to give its commitment to put the National playersâ safety and welfare as utmost priority.
Ng Chin Chai
Honorary Secretary
Badminton Association of MalaysiaÂ
