KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has lodged a formal complaint with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) over multiple umpiring decisions that it deemed contentious during the second-round action at the Malaysia Masters 2025 on Thursday (May 22).
It claimed that three decisions made at crucial points of the match between young national men’s doubles pair Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai and Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard had significantly influenced the outcome, thus raising serious concerns over the fairness of play.
“A formal complaint has been submitted alongside video evidence and detailed match documentation for BWF’s immediate review.
“BAM remains committed to upholding the values of sportsmanship and professionalism, and calls on BWF to take swift and transparent action to address this matter and prevent similar incidents in future competitions,” it said in a statement today.
The controversial umpiring decisions marred Kang-Tai's exit to the Danes, who won the 67-minute clash 21-10, 24-26, 21-16.
Meanwhile, in the same statement, BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh emphasised the importance of maintaining integrity in officiating, stating that while the association respects the role of technical officials, it is crucial for a thorough review of officiating standards to be conducted by the BWF.
In BAM’s view, the decisions made by the umpire were clearly erroneous and denied the players a fair contest.
“Such officiating not only affects the outcome of matches but also undermines the credibility of the sport of badminton,” he said.
Following Thursday's match, national men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi described such decisions as unfair and felt that the situation placed emotional stress on 19-year-old Kang and 18-year-old Tai.
— Bernama
