KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are proposing opening the doors to independent shuttlers to compete in international Gred 2-5 tournaments while reducing the number of players currently under BAM’s umbrella.

In the past, participation for international badminton competitions was only for BAM players with a few exceptions for competitions such as the Thomas Cup.

As BAM players are performing poorly, opening selections to independent players attached to clubs could be a win-win situation for both.

"The BAM players must be the best players in the country however were leaving it to the clubs as well to nurture players and provide players to compete international competitions and the proposal will be put forth during the council meeting on October 20th,” said BAM president Datuk Sri Norza Zakaria during the launch of the new Purple League season at the Palace of Golden Horses in Selangor today.

"In the past the clubs wouldn’t put an investment because the criteria we put forward. By opening it up to all it’s now up to the club owners to decide if they want to make the investment as now their players can compete internationally.”

This benefits the clubs as they will be able to make their mark at a global level while helping BAM cut its spending by reducing the number of players in the squad.

The move is in line with the Coaching and Training (C&T) committee’s proposal a few weeks ago regarding focused investments in Under-23 players moving forward. Senior players earning top dollar who aren’t showing the will to fight for the country or are constantly losing in early round in competitions will be dropped.

Norza was asked if BAM were experiencing financial constraints if which he denied, He said the move was in line with being prudent and not being too reliant on the government for money.

"Were not cutting down our yearly RM30 million spending but everyone must ensure some sort of financial discipline,” Norza said.

"We must cut down our over-reliance on government funding. Right now I feel were not getting a return on our investment from the current players. In my mind if we spend a ringgit on you we should be seeing a ringgit twenty back. Not twenty cents.

"That’s why today I made the announcement to the clubs that were democratising the process of selections so they can be prepared. 

"They need to know that were not going to be selfish by saying just because we have fewer players we don’t allow the others to compete. We have to adjust to the change,” added Norza.