KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has expressed his willingness to assume the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) leadership role, should the organisation find his services necessary.
The Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister also stated his readiness to offer his expertise and support to other sports associations in Malaysia, driven by his passion for sports and a shared commitment to enhance the sporting landscape in the country.
“I will accept any job in which I feel I can contribute, and as I mentioned, I am an avid sportsman who enjoys sports.
“During my university days in England, I have always been active in playing various types of sports such as football, badminton and cricket and do have an immense knowledge of these sports.
“If there is a role for me to contribute in sports, I will be more than happy to serve,” said Tengku Zafrul at the special screening of Gemencheh Boys at Central i-City, Shah Alam today.
There have been ongoing talks of the minister being the frontrunner to replace Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria as the new president of BAM, with the latter scheduled to step down at the end of the year.
Having contributed at the grassroots level with the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA), Norza became the pick of the sports fraternity to become the president of BAM in 2017, a post which he holds to this day.
Norza is also a board member and Audit Committee chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC), from 2018 until the present.
Tengku Zafrul had an interest in sports even while serving as the chief executive of CIMB Bank.
The businessman-turned-politician has been part of the organising committee for Junior Cycling Malaysia, the Malaysian Dota 2 Championships, the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Series, and the CIMB National Golf Championships.
He has also been involved with the National Junior Squash Circuit and the development of the Johan Cruyff football courts in Kuala Lumpur–the Cruyff Foundation.
Earlier, there had been speculations that three-time Olympic silver medalist Chong Wei was tipped to take over as president of BAM. — October 1, 2023