The Maldives Olympic Committee (MOC) has stated that the issue facing the Maldives Badminton Association will be resolved very soon. The Badminton World Federation (BWF), the international governing body of badminton, suspended the Maldives on May 16, stating that a former member of the Badminton Association was not included in the ad hoc committee formed by the Commissioner of Sports and the Maldives Olympic Committee (MOC). The national status given to the Badminton Association of Maldives (BAM) was temporarily revoked on April 30 until the necessary changes to the association’s governing rules are made and its executive committee is elected.
At the first press conference held after taking over the presidency of MOC for the upcoming term, MOC President Mohamed Abdulsattar (Champy) said that MOC has been in talks with the Badminton World Federation and the Asian Federation to resolve the BAM issue. “We see that a solution can be found very soon. Very recently, our Secretary General and lawyer have met with the President of the World Badminton Federation. In addition, we have met with the current Secretary General and we are also in talks with the Asian Federation,” said Sattar.
Commissioner of Sports Mohamed Tholal has said that the national status given to BAM was revoked and action was taken against the association due to fears that the sport might deteriorate, in the interest of badminton players and the association’s technical officials. Tholal has said that although they tried to work with the Olympic Committee to find a way forward, they did not receive cooperation from the executive committee of the Badminton Association whose term had expired. The BWF has requested that the election be conducted under the supervision of the Maldives Olympic Committee without government involvement.
