Yesterday, social media users blew up after seeing footage of Olympic Council of Malaysia President, Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, sitting in the audience at the Arena Porte de La Chapelle for Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s bronze medal match, with his wife and son.
Many wondered how Tan Sri Norza’s wife and son managed to get passes when Nova Armada, the coach to Malaysian women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei, couldn’t be there at the 2024 Paris Olympics with her due to limited passes.
“All Malaysians need an explanation for this. A badminton athlete’s coach couldn’t attend the 2024 Paris Olympics due to limited passes, but the President of BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) who is also the President of the Malaysian Olympic Council can bring his wife and child?” shared netizen, Roman Akramovich.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia released an explanation
Following this, the Olympic Council of Malaysia explained that their President has a “special quota” to bring guests along with him to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“The IOC (International Olympic Council) allocates special accreditation cards to the Minister of Youth and Sports, the President (of Malaysian Olympic Council) and the secretary-general, respectively, for accompanying guests. This provision is separate from the contingent accreditation card provision,”
“The accreditation cards for these guests are also subject to various limitations, especially access to the venue of the match (FOP) and the athlete’s village. Most importantly, it does not involve any government funding,” they said.
Netizens are not having it
However, Malaysians still believe that Tan Sri Norza could have used his “special quota” to bring along Goh Jin Wei’s coach as he could have still provided moral support despite the guest limitations.
Malaysians have also called for Tan Sri Norza to either resign or be terminated from his position as to them, it is obvious where his priorities lie.
“Even if you have a special quota, if you had common sense, you would give it to the coaches. At least they can support their players. What is his wife and son going to support?”
“Stupid. Why didn’t he use his special quota to bring along the coach that was stranded?”
“The problem is that he didn’t use his special quota to bring along the coach who couldn’t attend. It’s obvious that he doesn’t prioritise the wellbeing of the athletes. It’s best to sack him.”
What do you think of this whole situation? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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