Written By : Andrew Samuel
Lee Chong Wei commended Taufik Hidayat for not taking a 400mil rupiah bribe (RM117,000) to throw away a 2006 Asian Games semi-final match against him.
Taufik recently made the shocking revelation to Indonesian TV channel Trans TV, where he claimed to have rejected a “Malaysian team manager” offer to throw away the match for that sum.
The RM117,000 offer was said to be double of that being offered by the Indonesian government for winning gold at that time.
A livid Taufik was insulted by the offer and told the alleged briber: “How about he loses the match and I pay?”
The Indonesian, who was in top form at the Doha Games, went on to beat Lee 21-16, 21-18 before defeating Lin Dan in straight games to win gold.
Taufik claimed the person who offered the bribe was a former Malaysian shuttler.
A shocked Lee, who immediately called Taufik upon hearing of his revelation, said he knows the culprit but will not reveal his identify as the incident happened a long time ago.
Lee however commended his former rival for his integrity.
“I was shocked too because he has never mentioned about it all this while even though we’re good friends. Taufik just told me he wanted to make a point that a true sportsman should never betray his country, not for any amount of money.
“He wanted to tell the current and future generation of players to stay away from it. It’s a timely reminder to all,” Lee told The Star.
There were several high profile cases involving former Malaysian shuttlers and official in the past.
In 2018, Tan Chung Seang and former world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli were handed 15 and 20 year bans respectively for “engaging in corruption offences over a significant period and a significant number of tournaments” dating back to 2013.
Earlier in January, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) banned three Indonesian shuttlers and a Malaysian official for life for match-fixing activities.
Lim Ze Young, the Malaysian in question, had offered money to shuttlers to manipulate matches and bet of multiple matches using his position as a representative of an equipment brand that sponsors international shuttlers.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) meanwhile said they are ready to assist the BWF if the world body decides to open an investigation based on Taufik’s claims.
