Just Imagine if bwf doesn't require any player to have a letter of consent from their country badminton association in order to participate in bwf tournaments.....lzj (and ko sung hyun) won't have to lose a couple of their prime years......
Honestly, I don’t necessarily agree with the recent “independence” movements of players. Axelsen was one, after winning and making it big, went independent instead of repaying what he benefited so much from the Danish organisation. And now LZJ, winning just an AE, making these demands. These individuals are threatening the system of organisations raising talent to become world class professionals. Call them money-minded, but don’t forget they made a huge investment on these young talents to get them where they are today, of course they would require a return if not the economics would not be sustainable. If this trend catches up, organisations would fail to exist and we won’t have the talents we see today. Sure, players have their own objectives to achieve. But any rational person will know this outflux is setting up for disaster if it catches on. The system is not perfect, but it is necessary to raise young talents who do not have the financial means to develop themselves.
It takes great skill to negotiate for win-win outcome. If you want 'management team' whose skill is to destroy things, any random roadside pickup would do.
the system has a place in the sport, but it is not nec'y to give the 'teams' all the power and control of the athletes.
Need to ponder about that. There are some good points there. Badminton isn't a rich ppl sport. Prize money is peanuts. Most players don't have rich parents like in Tennis or Golf (and if there are, they probably end up playing tennis or golf anyway). Many of the top players are there because of training support from national organization. Not that I don't sympathize with LZJ, but one need to think what made it possible for him to go pro in the first place.
I think we should separate BAM rejecting LZJ’s requests and the 2-year ban. I believe no federation in the world would have accepted LZJ’s request to fly solo. Let’s see: China: no chance, strict state system. Previous examples in women tennis (long negotiation even for an independent sport). Denmark: very little chance. Axelson did it after Olympic gold. Korea: no chance. See precedents of LYD, KSH etc. Need to fulfil at least a few more years of service. Indonesia: no precedence. Now INA may have a chance here as INA has powerful clubs. It would be curious to see what happens with Jordan/Melati. Japan: no precedence. Japan has a unique system (company sponsored teams). So flying solo in Japan means outside a company team (?). India: not sure if Indian players are already quite independent (club based) Thailand: here we do have a precedence in Chocuwong who is somewhat comparable to LZJ. So in summary, I don’t see any country that has an established central training system could possibly accept LZJ’s terms to stay in the national team, nor would they allow him to leave without any consequences. I think here Malaysia is paying the price not for a overly strict system, but the opposite. No other country has so many solo players under private sponsorship. That’s why LZJ has this opportunity. I think the best way moving forward is for BAM to state clearly (and within their right) what a player needs to fulfil before going solo (# years of service or similar).
pursuing a career of any kind is not free. wanna be a dr.? you gotta pay for univ. + med school. wanna be an auto mechanic? you gotta pay for trade school or work your way up from the bottom. wanna be a pro athlete? you get the point... a high % of current tennis players & golfers worldwide did not grow up rich. ...because it's the only way to pursue a career and function as a professional. you have no choice but to be under the thumb of a federation. remove the registration rule and athletes are free to find their own way whether it be through a federation or on their own. have you noticed all the top players come from gov't backed federations? the bwf rule gives them a huge advantage and dictatorial powers with no financial risk. nobody from bwf or the worldwide fanbase has made a case for why the current system is fair or nec'y.
That's the point. For the amount of training needed for a professional badminton players, the cost is very high. If I were to pay that much, I'd rather be a doctor or a tennis player and earns hundreds of thousands or even millions instead of earning very little as a badminton player as the prize money is peanuts. If you take away the "free" training by national organization, you will not see many of the players in the international circuit today.
at the same time bwf is excluding athletes who might be able to afford paying their own way and don't want to 'work' for a federation. anyhow, i understand your point, but that's approaching the problem from an 'excuse based' line of thinking. if we sit back and say we can't change abc (independence) because of xyz (low prize money) and 123 (incompetent executives), nothing will ever change. make changes because it's right should be the thought process. bwf executives need to be replaced alongside changing the current system. this will take time but it needs to be done. as far as becoming a dr./tennis player/golfer/lawyer/what-have-you, solely because there's more money, never applies to everybody. what makes people happier, owning a mom and pop corner market or a chain of big grocery stores? owning a little neighborhood restaurant or a chain of starbucks? working for yourself or a faceless corporation? there are plenty of people to fill both sides. high earning occupations are the smallest segment of jobs and careers. also journeyman athletes far out number millionaire athletes. more importantly, in professional sports, you find out in your late teens through early 20's whether you can make a living at it or not. plenty of time to go back to school or embark on a new career if you don't make it, as opposed to finding out at age of 45 you hate being a dr./lawyer/entrepreneur/etc., where the money you're making isn't making you happy. it's crystal clear the current system and personnel are preventing badminton from growing. it is this way because bwf has failed to monetize and grow the sport over the last 50 years, a time in history when all professional sports had no money. the status quo is stuck in the mud.
Very good analysis. In golf and tennis, parents are the sponsor and players are developed to be independent and only join the national team for events like Olympic and Davis cup based on ranking. BAM probably supported LZJ from the start. BAM may be funded by government but often insufficient. They have to depend on outside sponsorship to keep the organisation running and to keep developing other young talents. It is kind of unfair for players to leave upon attaining success. Having said that, it is best to sit together and resolve the issue.
One reason there more independent players is cos BAM drop them from the team. Nowadays, esp post 2016 Olympics, BAM wants results fast, as in winning titles. Don't get the results they want, Norza(current President) will threaten here & there. The media statements is there for all to see. Players left, coaches too(like Jeremy Gan). It's not just Olympic silver medalist like CPS/GLY, Goh Wei Shem/Tan Wee Keong who left. There's a string of them. Every few months there's announcement of A, B, C, X, YZ being dropped from the team. Example XD. Imagine, for Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Msia top 2 XD pairs were independent pairs : CPS/GLY, Lai Pei Jing & partner. And... Lai PJ was dropped fr BAM in early 2021, just few short months before OG. Her partner quit BAM to continue the partnership & maintain the WR ranking. https://www.badmintonplanet.com/badminton-news/16926-tan-kian-meng-quits-bam.html Now only left the youngsters. It is not like previously when players stayed till retirement or near retirement. Now no win title or get to semis, you're out. When the national Association only cares abt titles & players know they can get cut anytime, they have to plan for their future.
Good point....BAM probably need a lesson in people's motivation. I guess it is a case of being too successful in youth development. Their large cohort of young players is putting a financial strain on maintaining and providing for them.
I think the ex-prime minister of Malaysia made a good point in that BAM should think about the reason of their existence, which is to produce athletes that can do the country proud - banning LZJ is exactly against that mission. Survival of the association is meaningless if it cannot accomplish the only mission it was formed for, especially when the majority of the fund came from the country.
It's the same system since the days of Rudy hartono and liem swee King.....it's archaic and outdated.....
Not disagreeing that the system is not perfect. However, taking the national organization out of the picture won't be perfect either. There must be some middle ground solution that works. If there is a desire to have independent players, then somebody (is it BWF? or the national orgs? or both?) need to sit down and think it through and come up with a more accommodating policy that will cater for both tracks of development, independent, or national organization based. The policy needs to take care of the desire, needs, financial commitment, and time commitments of both sides. Might not be easy given the current system has been in place for decades.
