Earlier today, it was reported that Malaysian shuttler, Lee Zii Jia’s jersey at the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals yesterday (December 11) displayed an upside-down Malaysian flag. Victor, the badminton sporting brand that sponsored the jersey, has since apologised.
However, this has led many to believe that Lee Zii Jia intentionally wore the jersey with the upside-down Jalur Gemilang.
“This was definitely intentional. Action should be taken against Lee Zii Jia’s management team. There should be no more excuses that it was accidental.”
“He definitely wore the upside down flag jersey on purpose. He’s Malaysian, don’t tell me he didn’t know the flag was upside down. Strip him of his citizenship.”
One Malaysian is debunking these claims
Now, netizen, Teng (@Wanfatinfiqah), is taking to her X account to debunk this theory through the various camera angles from the tournament.
She wrote, “The proof is below. Part 1 is (from the angle of) BWF TV. Part 2 is the continuation from a fan camera. The 3rd picture is proof that this was NOT from the beginning of the game as many are speculating. It was during the interval of game 2. What’s wrong is wrong, but (Lee Zii Jia not knowing) is also a fact.”
In the first video Teng showcased from BWF TV, Lee Zii Jia could be seen rummaging through his bag during an interval, to find a clean, fresh jersey (as the one he was wearing was soaked in sweat from the previous sets).
He then tore off the tags of the fresh jersey (the one with the upside-down Jalur Gemilang), removed his sweaty jersey and took out the clean jersey from his bag. This is when BWF TV’s video ended.
In the second video from a fan camera, the footage showcased the same scene but from a different angle.
This video is longer and showed that Lee Zii Jia never looked at the front side of the clean jersey, where the upside-down Jalur Gemilang was when he put it on and proceeded to the court. He merely glanced at the back of the jersey.
Another netizen also took to the comments to point out that, while the jersey was still inside Lee Zii Jia’s bag, the jersey was folded in a way to only show the back of the jersey that displayed his name.
“The jersey was folded with the name on the back (facing the top). Only then can they identify whose jersey it is.”
You can check out the different video angles here.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
