KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh respects the decision of Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria to step down as the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Hannah said Mohamad Norza is fulfilling a promise he made earlier to resign from his position.

"Norza before this made a decision to step down from his position and my appeal to him was to reconsider his decision because the Paris Olympics is very close. I believe this is how he honours his word, and we must respect the decision.

"Knowing Norza, he will put in place the preparations to make sure even though he is not in BAM, things will move orderly and will not affect the athletes,” she told reporters after launching the Malaysian Children Hospice Festival at the Tuanku Bainun Creative Centre for Children here today.

Yesterday, Mohamad Norza said he would step down as BAM president at the next council meeting scheduled for Aug 24, just two weeks after the Paris 2024 Olympics from July 26 to Aug 11.

He said BAM deputy president I Datuk V. Subramaniam would serve as the acting president until the annual general assembly next year to elect new office bearers.

Meanwhile, Hannah congratulated independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia for his impressive performance in the Malaysia Masters and wished him all the best in the final today.

She said the National Sports Council (NSC) is committed to assisting Zii Jia and other athletes preparing for the Olympics although they are not in the Road to Gold programme.

"NSC is committed to assisting in some way, which I will announce later for the preparation for the Olympics because they represent Malaysia.

"We want to find a way to help them either through the National Sports Institute’s services or through financial means,” she said. — Bernama