Ahmad Faizal condemns racist comments against natonal shuttler

IPOH: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has condemned the racist comments hurled by a Facebook user against a national shuttler who represented Malaysia in the Sudirman Cup 2021 tournament in Vantaa, Finland.

He said this was unacceptable, especially as the player fought hard to make Malaysia proud at the prestigious mixed team tournament.

"Keluarga Malaysia (the Malaysian Family) is like a bunch of bananas, some are good, some are bad and some do not know how to use good language in talking about something.

"We are made up of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans and so on. Do not despise others because of race, skin colour or religion, more so those who are fighting to make Malaysia's name famous," he told a press conference after visiting a needy family in Kampung Manjoi. here, today.

The racist remarks against her when she played in the semi-finals of the tournament yesterday spread on social media .

Malaysia lost 1-3 to Japan thus failing to advance to the final today.

Commenting on the performance of the national shuttlers in the Sudirman Cup 2021 tournament, Ahmad Faizal, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tambun, said he was impressed with the enthusiasm displayed by the national shuttlers .

"They promised us to reach the quarter-finals but made it to the semi-finals until all (the people) did not sleep at night watching them play. So we were eliminated (in the semi-finals) but to me they have shown such an amazing spirit," he said. The semi-final tie ended at about 1 am today.

Apart from that, he said that he hoped that the national badminton players would qualify for the final of the Thomas Cup which is scheduled to take place from Oct 9 to 17 in Aarhus, Denmark based on their performance in the Sudirman Cup.

"But what we expect from them is to show high sportsmanship and all the results (in the Thomas Cup) we will accept, "he said.

-- BERNAMA