Thomas & Uber Cup: Chong Wei slams BWF as 'selfish'

Lee Chong Wei slammed the Badminton World Federation (BWF), branding the world body as 'selfish' for wanting to go ahead with the Thomas & Uber Cup for commercial reasons.

The biennial affair slated to be held in Aarhus, Denmark, in October is rumoured to be postponed until next year, but the world body had yet to make an official announcement.

Former world number one Lee, who featured in eight editions of the Thomas Cup from 2004 to 2018, was livid with the world body for disregarding the safety of players, coaches and officials making the trip to Denmark.

"As a former athlete, I feel the Thomas and Uber Cups should not go on. I wouldn’t want to play in it surely. However, postponing it due to mainly commercial interest is wrong. This is very selfish of BWF."

"As the world governing body, their top priority should be the players, not their own pockets. It's just too risky," he told the New Straits Times.

13-time champions Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand already decided to pull out of the event.

Powerhouses China and Japan are also understood to be following suit, which would dilute the quality of the competition should it go ahead.

The BWF had their emergency council meeting on Sunday and one of the main agendas discussed was believed to be on the status of the Thomas & Uber Cup.

If this team tournament is called off, there aren't any other tournaments on the calendar for this year.

Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) would be organising an exhibition tournament this Wednesday and Thursday, to prepare Malaysian shuttlers for the Thomas & Uber Cup.