PETALING JAYA: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) performance committee chairman Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei has admitted that disciplinary problems still exist among the national shuttlers, four months after he first raised the issue publicly.
Chong Wei said some of the earlier problems have been resolved, but there are still cases that need to be dealt with.
He added that getting all the players to stay focused and fully follow the rules will take time and cannot be achieved overnight.
The latest concerns were brought up by the coaches during a meeting with Chong Wei on Monday (Aug 10).
"I'm not at the training centre every day, so I've asked the coaches to work closely with the players. If there are any problems, they can bring them up with the management or even contact me.
"I'll see how I can help with some of these issues. It's not easy because this is about discipline. I think the coaches also need to be stricter.
"We cannot expect everything to change in one or two days, or even in one or three months. It takes time, and we have to work on it slowly to make things better for BAM," said Chong Wei.
Previously, several players were reported to have refused to stay at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) hostel in Bukit Kiara as required, although the issue has since been resolved.
However, Chong Wei revealed that there are still cases of players going out at night while competing in tournaments overseas.
"I met all the coaches yesterday and spoke to them about this. I can say that there are still quite a lot of disciplinary issues," he said.
"We have to find a way to get the players back on track. If the players are disciplined, I believe we will see better results.
"But as I said, this cannot be changed in one, two or three months. Give me some time," he added.
