BAM mull better salary, pension for national players

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will propose a better salary scheme for national players, including a pension scheme in the future.

BAM President Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff said the new scheme, an improvised system from the old scheme, was approved by the BAM Council during its second council meeting for 2015.

"The new scheme will see a substantial increment in the monthly allowance based on ranking plus winning bonus. This will inspire players to work extra hard to ensure a better take home pay.

"The old scheme was improved because players were not able to apply for housing or car loans because of their low salary. The pension scheme could also be introduced since BAM Patron Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor wants the welfare of players to be taken care well," he told reporters here on Saturday.

Tengku Mahaleel who chaired the second council meeting today said the actual details of the meeting would not be revealed at the moment since it has yet to be finalised.

He said BAM would also revive state and school level competitions in the search for another Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Tengku Mahaleel said the BAM wants to target a pool of 200,000 players at all levels, including schools, to ensure a steady flow of players coming through the mill.

He said currently there are about 4,800 elite and back up players in the country.

Speaking of Chong Wei, Tengku Mahaleel said the former world number one has become a more composed player since coming under the wings of BAM technical director Morten Frost Hansen after returning from an eight-month suspension for a doping offence.

Chong Wei who won the United States Grand Prix Open and Canada Open recently, has more deception and patience in his game.

"The arrival of Frost is timely and their combination has seen a change in the entire game of Chong Wei although he is 32 now. I hope he (Chong Wei) will quickly regain his status as world number one and qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil.

Chong Wei who is currently ranked 65th in the world, will next compete in the Taiwan Open from July 14 to 19.

He also played in the Singapore SEA Games and helped Malaysia win a bronze medal in the team event.