In sportsmanship, healthy competition between rivals is common, and sometimes even celebrated. However, not all are capable of respecting boundaries when it comes to maintaining professional relationships among athletes. 

Speaking of, something has recently resurfaced between Indonesian badminton player Taufik Hidayat and our very own legend Lee Chong Wei regarding their 2006 Doha Asian Games.

A Malaysian team official had reportedly approached Taufik Hidayat before the game, offering him 400 million Rupiahs or RM 117,000 if he agreed to throw the match.  Now, obviously, Taufik Hidayat refused as he went on and bagged the golds medal that year. However, Lee Chong Wei never knew about the little deal until recently, to which he immediately reached out to Taufik Hidayat for clarification.

When asked about the issue, Lee Chong Wei simply said: “Honestly, I had no idea about this. I was surprised when people started contacting me today. Taufik is a dear friend, so I quickly got in touch with him. He told me what had happened. Thankfully for people like Taufik and me, national pride always comes first. I know who the person is, but it’s been so long since this took place. I believe we should all move on. I don’t want to name or shame anybody.”

Regardless of what both athletes think of the issue, corruption of any level should never be left buried under the rug. Taking accountability is the first step towards ending corruption, so let's hope the individual responsible behind this will be dealt with accordingly.