KUALA LUMPUR: Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria has addressed accusations regarding the presence of his family members at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In response to concerns raised about his family's accreditation, he clarified that he was granted a personal quota separate from the national team's allocation.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, he said, "As the President of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and OCM, I am given a special allocation to bring my own guests. This quota is distinct and unrelated to the accreditation cards issued to athletes and the national team."
The controversy erupted after a netizen on X posted a photo showing what appeared to be Norza's wife and son wearing accreditation cards at one of the Olympic matches.
This followed criticism over the limited number of accreditation cards available, which allegedly impacted the participation of national women's badminton player Goh Jin Wei's coach, Nova Armada.
Due to insufficient cards from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Armada was unable to accompany Jin Wei to Paris.
However, Jin Wei was supported by Rexy Mainaky, Director of Coaching at the Malaysian Badminton Academy (ABM), and the assistant to the national men's doubles coach during the games.
Further confusion arose when another X user mistakenly identified the individuals in the photo as the family of Malaysian Chef de Mission (CDM) Datuk Mohd Hamidin Mohd Amin.
The user questioned Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh and her deputy, Adam Adli Abdul Halim, about the allocation of accreditation cards, asking, "People are saying the picture in the tweet below is Hamidin's family, but it's not. Please check first. They are Norza's wife and son based on Norza's Instagram. Were two of the accreditation cards allocated to them?"