Male, Maldives (August 29) - The Badminton Association of Maldives (BAM) has challenged the Commissioner of Sports' decision to transfer the association's administration to the Sports Council in Civil Court, while the Badminton World Federation (BWF) opposes the Commissioner’s decision.
Fourteen days ago, Commissioner of Sports Mohamed Tholal announced on X (formerly Twitter) that a decision has been made regarding the issues surrounding the Badminton Association.
Tholal said, "The National Sports Council (NSC) will be in charge of BAM until the election is held, and I will be forming a committee in consultation with the NSC to organize the election."
The Badminton Association of Maldives has approached the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for clarification regarding the decision made by Commissioner of Sports, Tholal.
In a letter addressed to Maldives Olympic Committee, the BWF expressed regret that the Commissioner's actions occurred amid ongoing good faith discussions between the elected BAM leadership, the MOC, and the BWF. These discussions had previously led to an agreement to establish a three-member Ad Hoc Committee to facilitate BAM elections by the end of the year.
"We had further agreed on the possibility for the existing BAM leadership to continue overseeing the operations of the organisation, recognising that badminton officials are best placed to decide how badminton should be managed in the country." mentioned in the letter.
"While we appreciate the context you provided in your letter, we continue to believe that the intervention by the Commissioner may constitute governmental interference, which goes against both the Olympic Charter and the BWF Constitution in their purpose to protect the autonomy of sport organisations. We do agree that the BAM constitution can be improved but, if anything, the BAM leadership’s failure to organise elections on time has been caused by the Commissioner’s own intervention in the case."
The BWF also stated that if the Commissioner persists in having the NSC manage BAM's operations, they will need to escalate the issue to the BWF Council. This could be considered a breach of the Olympic Charter and the BWF Constitution, potentially leading to consequences for BAM under NSC management.
To support the BWF's statement, the Badminton Association's lawyer has filed a case in Civil Court challenging the Commissioner of Sports' decision to transfer the association's administration to the NSC.
A case has been lodged with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the Badminton Association concerning the Paris Olympic scholarship funds allocated to national badminton player Nibal Ahmed and the salary paid to the national team’s South Korean coach, Jang Ki-Yun.
Additionally, a team from the ACC and the Maldives Police Service attempted to conduct a raid on the Badminton Office over the allegations. However, the Badminton Association intervened, requesting that the ACC complete the legal jurisdiction process before proceeding with the raid.
