KUALA LUMPUR – The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), under the new leadership of Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, will not give in to the demands of women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah in their ongoing contract negotiations.
Deputy president Datuk V. Subramaniam said today that the duo had yet to accept BAM’s original offer made in January and had since submitted a revised counterproposal.
“We’ve discussed and made the offer. They’ve not signed or accepted it, and have come back with different figures.
“Players cannot hold the association to ransom – or we risk creating a disease,” Subramaniam said at a press conference at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM), following the announcement of Tengku Zafrul’s appointment as BAM president.
He added that all other national players had accepted their respective contracts and that the BAM Council had unanimously agreed not to make further concessions.
“We brought this up at the Council. Everyone agreed we won’t budge. After this, we’ll call them for one more final meeting. Right now, they’re in Thailand. That meeting will be next week.”
Scoop first reported in April that Pearly and Thinaah were considering turning independent.
It is understood the world number four pair are seeking salaries on par with BAM’s top earners – reportedly around RM2 million per year.
Subramaniam also said BAM had approved plans to disclose player earnings publicly in the interest of transparency.
“Some players feel their income should not be made known to the public. Today we discussed that perhaps it’s time we publish these figures. International footballers’ salaries are public – maybe we should move in that direction too.”
He added that BAM had made significant investments in Olympic-bound shuttlers, offering performance-based incentives and contract packages aimed at securing Malaysia’s first badminton gold medal.
“We gave out good goodies to all players in hopes of boosting their performance ahead of the Olympics. All their needs are taken care of. We saw some promising names and decided to take a chance.”
However, he said that BAM had also drafted policies to ensure accountability, and that underperforming players risk having their contracts reviewed.
“If they don’t perform, we can review the contracts and channel the funds to younger players. Although a few are getting a big chunk now, it must be performance-based.” — May 10, 2025