11 hours ago
Top umpires aplenty, BAM boss tells curious netizen
KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton fans, take note.
Malaysia do have international umpires, and BA of Malaysia (BAM) president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has the numbers to prove it.
In a short and snappy video posted on his social media, Tengku Zafrul responded to a curious netizen who wondered why no Malaysian officials seemed to feature on the global stage.
"I don't see any international badminton umpires from Malaysia although we are a top four badminton country. Does anyone have answers?" Tajuddin wrote on X.
Tengku Zafrul, who is known for his data-driven approach, quickly stepped in with the facts.
"It's not true that there are no Malaysian umpires on the international stage," he said.
"There are several levels to umpiring, and we have representatives across them."
Tengku Zafrul outlined the hierarchy of umpiring qualifications — from BAM-accredited (BAM-A) and BAM-certified (BAM-C) officials at the local level, to those certified by Badminton Asia (BA-A and BA-C) and the Badminton World Federation (BWF-C and BWF-A) for international duties.
"At the moment, we have 670 BAM-A umpires, who are eligible to officiate at state and national level.
"BAM-C is the minimum level needed to umpire in international events hosted by BAM — we have 57 at this level.
"But to officiate abroad, you need to be accredited by Badminton Asia or the BWF," he explained.
Tengku Zafrul then rattled off Malaysia's current tally: seven umpires with Badminton Asia-A status, three with Asia-C, and one each with the highly coveted BWF-A and BWF-C certifications, bringing the total to 12 international umpires.
"Compared to the big boys, we're doing well," he added.
"China have 15, Indonesia 14, Malaysia 12, Japan 9 and Korea 7."
Zafrul admitted that moving up the ranks isn't easy.
"As the levels increase, the difficulty of getting accreditation rises, which is why we only have two at the BWF level."
