Kuala Lumpur: President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) Mohamad Norza Zakaria has confirmed on Saturday that Malaysia’s badminton legend Lee Chong Wei has been appointed as the chef de mission (CDM) for Malaysian delegation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Malaysia’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Syed Saddiq revealed during Lee’s emotional retirement press conference on Thursday that he and President of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Norza Zakaria have decided to nominate Lee Chong Wei as the chef de mission for Malaysian delegation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. And Lee is now expected to start his new job in August of 2019.
“The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) meeting has unanimously approved Chong Wei as Malaysia’s chef de mission for Tokyo Olympics,” said Zakaria.
“We are going to invite him to join us at a seminar about CDM in August so that he can understand the scope of his responsibility,” added Zakaria.
“Chong Wei has retired as a very successful athlete. Olympic Games are no stranger to him as he has involved in many major games around the world.”
“This is a good chance for him to complete his unfinished business by winning the country’s first Olympic gold,” added Norza.
Zakaria also said that OCM might create the post of deputy chef de mission depends on the situation.
“We will only know the actual size of the national delegations 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,” added Zakaria.
To date, only three Malaysian athletes have confirmed tickets to the Tokyo Olympics, including Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy Abdullah and Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif through standard laser and radial laser events and Khairul Anuar Mohamad who has made history for Malaysia after storming into the World Archery Championships final in the men’s recurve individual event in Hertogenbosch, Holland two days ago.
