Malaysian shuttlers Teo Ee Yi and Ong Yew Sin were supposed to have played in the Indonesia Masters 2023 next month.
Yet, it was not meant to be.
The BA of Malaysia (BAM) was given a dressing down over a ‘clerical error’ that somehow left out Teo’s name in the men’s doubles event. Ong was instead paired with another shuttler, Chee Yik Sen, for the Jakarta tournament, scheduled from Jan 24-29.
The national body reached out to the Badminton World Federation but to no avail. The world body insisted that nothing could be done.
Some screamed sabotage. Others said it was a silly mistake that should not have happened.
BAM apologised over the boo-boo, insisting that there was no ill intention and stressed that it had resolved the matter “amicably”, with the players. It was nothing but pure human error.
What the national body did not reveal was that the episode turned out to be a costly affair – both financially and in terms of manpower.
Ong and Teo were given compensation. The amount handed out to the duo, however, remained strictly under wraps.
The backlash over the matter greatly affected the administrators at BAM, especially the long-serving staff who committed the error, resulting in the individual resigning.
Those who sympathised with the players said that the compensation is justified, as they had lost an opportunity to improve their world rankings.
Others said the registration process should have been more robust, and scrutinised to include additional steps that would eliminate such errors in the future.
BAM wants to move on, and presumably, so do the shuttlers.
The administrators of the national body have certainly learnt from this costly mistake. It was not their intention to end the year on such a note.
This has also been an invaluable lesson for BAM, especially in how to manage its staff from being affected by comments from third parties, and in dealing with shuttlers with regard to the value of the compensation – bearing in mind that the players could either win or crash out in the early rounds of a competition.
