He said it was important to maintain stability and focus within the national team, especially for players preparing for major tournaments, Bernama reported.

“Issues like this are not ideal when you want to be 100% focused (on training).

“We need to make sure that we keep all the players with BAM. So I have asked BAM’s management to please try and make sure they stay,” he told reporters after visiting the national players during a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia today.

It was previously reported that the women’s doubles pair had yet to renew their contracts with BAM, which expired last December.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding their future with BAM, Pearly and Thinaah have continued to perform well, capturing the Thailand Open title last month and finishing runners-up in the recent Indonesia Open.

Tengku Zafrul also said BAM was still working on strengthening the guidelines for players transitioning out of the national team.

“I think we need to look at this objectively because we don’t want to rush into making any decisions,” he said.