KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh condemned the statements of a former national badminton player who made controversial comments on the badminton association of Malaysia which touched on race.

The Segambut MP said that even though he had apologised, she strongly condemned any racial and religious speech especially in the sporting industry.

"I believe that race and religion do not interfere with the performance of athletes and sports. This has never been a problem in Malaysia,” she said in her Twitter post this morning.

"I repeat my stand — sports must be free from any racial and political elements. All national athletes are a source of inspiration to the community and are advised to be careful with their respective social media content,” she said.

Yeoh said that she had checked with the National Sports Council and the badminton association of Malaysia and confirmed that the shuttler in the controversial video post was no longer a national athlete having served as a reserve trial player in 2014, nine years ago and is currently not residing in Malaysia.

Although she did not name him, the person referred to is Bong Guang Yik who had made comments in Mandarin about the BAM.

The video has been shared widely on social media, earning criticism for its racial and religious sentiments.

Recently, national hockey player Hanis Nadia Onn Hanis was indefinitely suspended from international tournaments by the NSC and Malaysian Hockey Confederation for making racial slurs about Indian music maestro AR Rahman’s concert.