KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria has resigned as the president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after serving for seven years.
He said the BAM Council accepted his resignation at its meeting today, where BAM deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam was also appointed as the acting president, effective today.
"This is my last meeting as the BAM president. Datuk V. Subramaniam has been appointed as the acting president,” Norza said during a press conference after the meeting at Academy Badminton Malaysia.
He added that he would now devote more time to his duties at the international level.
“I have enough on my plate. I hold several positions as honorary president of Badminton Asia, chairman of the Sports for All Committee for the Olympic Council of Asia, and member of the Coordination Committee for the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
“I think it is enough for me to contribute to sports for the next two or three years, and after that, I will slow down,” Norza said.
He also hopes the leadership that will take over the badminton governing body will be ready and more open to accepting whatever challenges the sport may face in the future.
“There are many things we have not achieved, but we have set the right path or platform to bring it to the next level. There is much work to be done, but we are on the right plan," Norza said.
He said badminton fans should not '’oversimplify'’ things when assessing BAM.
"I hope people will understand that this work will be done professionally,” Norza said.
Meanwhile, Subramaniam said that moving forward, he is ready to continue the efforts initiated by Norza in BAM.
“You all know how our president has led BAM. The path has been set and there is nothing much new to look at,” he said.
Norza was supposed to hold the position of president for this term until next year. Previously, he announced his intention to step down in December 2023, with Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz named as his successor.
However, after being persuaded by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, Norza agreed to stay on until Paris 2024.
The 57-year-old corporate figure replaced Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff as BAM president in 2017.
— Bernama
