Recently, the Malaysian Olympic Council President, Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, was bashed for using his ‘special quota for guests‘ to bring his wife and son along with him to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This backlash was due to the fact that some Malaysian athletes competing in the games could not bring their teammates (i.e. coaches, physiotherapists and more) due to a lack of passes.
Following this, many called for Tan Sri Norza to resign while others pointed out that he had already announced his resignation in May. However, this is a misunderstanding as his plan is to resign from his position as President of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), not the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
And, it appears that he might be getting a promotion
The Olympic Council of Malaysia, also known as NOC (National Olympic Council), shared that Tan Sri Norza is the sole candidate for a Vice President position for the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Southeast Asia zone. Being the sole candidate basically guarantees him the position.
They wrote, “The OCA will convene its 44th General Assembly on Sunday, September 8, in New Delhi, India. During this General Assembly, elections for the OCA Executive Board for the term 2024 to 2028 will take place.”
“On Friday, July 12, the NOC Malaysia nominated its President, Dr. Norza Zakaria, for the position of OCA Vice President for the Southeast Asia zone. The nomination of Dr. Norza Zakaria was fully supported by 10 other member NOCs of the OCA in Southeast Asia.”
The countries that supported his nomination are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
“As a result, he emerged as the sole candidate nominated for this prestigious position.”
There are 5 Vice President positions available on the Olympic Council of Asia, namely for West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and of course, Southeast Asia in which Tan Sri Norza is the only candidate.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.