2001 Sudirman Cup, World Championships in Sevilla

COPENHAGEN (JP): The Spanish city of Sevilla has been chosen as the venue for the 2001 Sudirman Cup and World Championships slated from May 27 to June 10.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) appointed the city as the host after an argumentative meeting on Saturday had to be adjourned until Sunday.

Rudy Hartono, a member of the IBF council representing Indonesia, said that Sevilla beat Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, in a vote. Only two countries submitted written proposals to host the tournament.

Sevilla, despite the city's lack of experience staging such a major event, was chosen with the intention of popularizing badminton in the future. This is the first time for IBF to hold an event in a country where badminton is not popular.

Rudy said the Sevilla administration has guaranteed to cover 71 percent of the US$800,000 budget of the tournament.

"The IBF expects to receive between $200,000 and $250,000 profit from staging the biennial event," he said.

"Maybe we won't get any profit from ticket sales because so far although we have a full-house we never get any profit. It will be difficult for the IBF to develop the sport without much money."

IBF also announced Kuala Lumpur as the host for the Thomas and Uber Cup finals next May. Golf Bridge Engineering and Construction, a company listed on the second board of the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, will sponsor the biennial event.

The two preliminary stages will take place in New Delhi for Asian countries and Sofia for European countries in February. (yan)