Badminton world c'ships latest event at risk of SARS

Badminton world c'ships latest event at risk of SARS

Agence France-Presse, London

The badminton world championships could be the next sports event
to fall prey to the SARS epidemic that has particularly affected
Asia where the majority of the top players hail from it was
reported here Tuesday.

The Daily Telegraph said it was 90 percent certain the event
due to be staged in Birmingham, England, next month would be
postponed although organizers were looking at ways of holding it.

"A week ago I thought it was 50-50 whether they would go
ahead, but it's now a lot worse than that," a well placed source
told the Telegraph.

"We need to start planning for a postponement now because the
players will start traveling by the weekend," the source added.

A spokeswoman for the International Badminton Federation (IBF)
confirmed to the Telegraph a decision would be taken by
Wednesday.

While the Badminton Association of England has argued for the
championships to be held saying that measures such as stopping
players from shaking hands at the end of matches would prevent
any chance of them catching SARS, the IBF president Korn
Dabbaransi has said they should be called off.

He claimed China, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia would
pull out even if they were held, though his claims were ridiculed
by a source within the IBF.

"He is blowing the SARS risk out of all proportion to
deliberately scupper the world championships," the source told
the Telegraph.

The IBF insider was referring to an internecine battle between
Dabbaransi and chief executive Neil Cameron, who wants the
championships to go ahead.

The worries over the badminton world championships comes hot
on the heels of threats by both the French and Australian track
cycling teams to withdraw from their world championships to be
held in Shenzen, China, in July.

Their absence would effectively render the event meaningless
as they are the two powerhouses in the sport.

The Asian women's championship due to take place in Thailand
from April 17 was postponed earlier this month and will now be
played in June while a series of Olympic qualifiers will now be
played in September.

Asia's richest club tournament - the AFC Champions League -
has also been disrupted with the second leg of Chinese side
Dalian Shide's semifinals with Al Ain postponed to Aug. 30.

English Premiership side Everton scrapped its tour to southern
China - where the virus is believed to have originated six months
ago - planned for May citing fears over SARS.

Aston Villa, which was also planning a tour of China, quickly
followed Everton's lead and canceled.

Other tours by European clubs are also in doubt, with
Germany's Bayern Munich reported to be mulling pulling out of a
planned trip to China and Birmingham City reconsidering their
participation in a four-team tournament in Malaysia in July.

Portugal decided to look elsewhere for summer opposition,
calling off games against Japan and South Korea due to take place
in June as part of a tour of the Far East.

In the longer term, the women's World Cup, to be hosted by
China in September and October and featuring 16 teams, could also
end up being affected by the SARS crisis.