PETALING JAYA: Former great Datuk Lee Chong Wei has hit out at independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia and his coach Wong Tat Meng for accusing the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) of bullying professional players.
Chong Wei branded Zii Jia as selfish and problematic after the latter and Tat Meng expressed their frustrations with BAM for the new rule preventing independent players from training at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) if they did not wear apparel from the same sponsor as the national team.
The national team were currently sponsored by Japanese sports equipment brand Yonex while Zii Jia was funded by Victor.
"Zii Jia is the only player who seems to have a problem with this rule," said Chong Wei.
"I don't see Rosman Razak and the independent players under him like Ong Yew Sin or Teo Ee Yi complaining about this.
"Zii Jia and his coach are trying to make a big deal out of this small issue.
"He is selfish as he only thinks about himself and not about BAM or the other players.
"He is one who threw away BAM and now they are giving him an opportunity to train there once or twice a week and he wants to create a problem.
"He is the only player with so many issues – one after another.
"I have not commented on any of his issues before this but this is one time too many.
"If you want to enter and train at ABM, then you need to follow their rules.
"If he does not want to cooperate, then he can choose to not train there."
