Lee Zii Jia wants to become an independent badminton player which would afford him greater freedom and flexibility to plan and execute his schedule.
The public understands this and more than 12,000 people signed an online petition calling on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to lift its ban on him and Goh Jin Wei from competing in international tournaments.
Badminton players from Denmark, Thailand and Singapore have also rallied to the cause.
This incident is the result of conflicting interests between athletes and the sports governing body. It's symptomatic of the wider malaise and angst of our athletes. As there's an imbalance of bargaining power, athletes are always at a severe disadvantage.
For example, the axing of 144 athletes from the National Sports Council's (NSC) training programmes was done without consultation.
The athletes claimed that there had been no engagement. Low Wee Wern, one of the athletes axed, rebutted NSC's claims, tweeting that she was never invited to any engagement session.
Little wonder that our athletes feel used, victimised and abandoned. Thus, out of frustration or desperation, they may choose to retire when the powers that be are deemed to be unempathetic or no longer perceived to be supporting them.
The athletes might even choose to be coaches overseas or even play for an adopted country. This would be a huge loss for Malaysia as many of these athletes have carved a name at high-level international sporting events.
On top of that, this could frighten current athletes still with the NSC and they might become less motivated to perform better.
And, a situation could arise where potential sports talents may refuse to serve Malaysia and opt to migrate to other countries with better facilities and benefits. It can't be emphasised enough that the success of players will not only improve the country's prestige on the international stage but also strengthen national unity and contribute to a more harmonious society.
If conflicting interests between athletes and sports governing bodies become rife, constant and irreconcilable, resulting in a large pool of athletes deciding to develop their careers overseas, we would lose one of the potent tools to unite our nation's diverse communities.
The government should also understand the importance of not overlooking the interests of athletes.
South Korea is one country we can emulate. The South Korean government allocated a staggering 1.8 trillion won (approximately RM63 billion) for sports this year. That's a vast difference from the RM289 million allocated to sports under the 2022 Budget.
Sports analyst Dr Pekan Ramli said with such a large budget, South Korea has no fear of disruptions and can improve its sports in all aspects.
In our case, without sufficient funds and even zero allocation for the Podium Programme that was introduced in 2015 to groom world-class athletes, there's no point even in requiring athletes to fulfil expectations of sport governing bodies.
If sports governing bodies insist on outstanding performances from athletes at upcoming major events (eg., 2021 Hanoi SEA Games and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games) under current conditions of budget cuts and entrenched institutional vested interests, they should brace for conflicting interests to arise.
At the time of writing, Zii Jia and BAM appear to have reached a win-win agreement after meeting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria.
Jin Wei, too, has met the prime minister and the youth and sports minister to find a mutually acceptable resolution.
It was therefore welcomed when Zii Jia and Jin Wei's two-year suspensions were lifted on Thursday and they were declared free to play now.
Nonetheless, we should understand that such issues will arise for other athletes if the root cause of unresolved conflicting interests persists. This could trigger a sports talent drain.
Therefore, addressing the root cause, and not just the symptom(s), should be the priority.
The writers are researchers at think tank EMIR Research