Tengku Mahaleel hints possible legal action against Rashid

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is not ruling out the possibility of taking legal action against former national singles head coach, Rashid Sidek, for reportedly signing a one-year contract with Indian Badminton League (IBL) side, Delhi Smashers.

BAM president Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, however, said the national badminton body would first have to clarify the matter with the New Delhi-based club.

A newspaper in India had carried a report stating that Rashid, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bronze medallist, had signed a one-year contract with the IBL club to train its players.

"He (Rashid) has a two-year contract with us which runs from January 2013 until December 2014.

"If you breach the contract, the consequences are very severe," Tengku Mahaleel told a press conference at the BAM office in Bukit Kiara here today.

Rashid had on Thursday made a shock decision by tendering his resignation letter to BAM, citing interference from BAM's newly-appointed Talent Management Group director Tan Aik Mong who wished to reshuffle the national badminton training structure.

Asked whether a replacement had been found for the position left vacant by Rashid, Tengku Mahaleel said they had acquired the service of Rashid's brother, Razif Sidek, to evaluate the coaching methods of each coach.

He also outlined four main tournaments next year as the key performance indicators (KPI) to be achieved by national coaches, namely the Thomas Cup in India, World Championships in Denmark, Asian Games in South Korea and the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.