KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) today confirmed former national badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei as the Malaysian contingent’s chef de mission (CDM) for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.

OCM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the nomination of the national sports icon was unanimously agreed to by all affiliate members of OCM.

Mohamad Norza said the post of deputy chef de mission might be created later if the situation warrants it, especially after taking into consideration Chong Wei’s health condition.

"All delegates representing sports bodies unanimously agreed to the nomination of Datuk Lee Chong Wei, which was proposed by the Youth and Sports Minister (Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman) recently.

"We will only know the actual size of the national contingent early next year and if then we need an assistant we may consider appointing a deputy CDM. Based on the number of athletes who have qualified so far, only the CDM is needed,” he told reporters after chairing the annual general meeting of OCM here today.

Mohamad Norza said the appointment of Chong Wei was a positive development for sports and for the three-time Olympic silver medallist.

He said a seminar on the comprehensive role of the chef de mission would be held in August.

"He retired as a very successful athlete and so far he has only seen from afar the management process involving multi-sports games. Chong Wei was involved in all major games in the world and the Olympic Games are no stranger to him.

"The appointment is a good exposure for him and we will invite him to join a seminar on CDM for the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 which will be held in August,” he added.

Mohamad Norza also said OCM today accepted the applications of the Malaysian Ski Federation (MySkate) and Malaysian Floorball Association to be OCM associate members. — Bernama