IBF expects more qualifiers for 2008
IBF expects more qualifiers for 2008
Novan Iman Santosa, Jakarta
The International Badminton Federation is looking for more
qualifying countries at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in a move to
keep badminton as an Olympic sport, IBF President Korn Dabbaransi
said over the weekend.
"We expect there will be representatives from at least 50
countries in Beijing to maintain our place among the 28 sports of
the Olympics," Dabbaransi told reporters on the sidelines of the
IBF's Annual General Meeting at the Jakarta Convention Center
here on Sunday.
After being played as an exhibition sport at the 1988 Seoul
Olympics, badminton was officially included in the Olympics in
1992 in Barcelona, in which Indonesia won two golds from Alan
Budi Kusuma and Susi Susanti.
The 2004 Olympics in Athens this August will see 172 shuttlers
from 30 countries, competing in five categories: men's singles
and doubles, women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles.
"We must increase the number of participating countries (in
Beijing)," Dabbaransi said. He was accompanied by IBF chief in
charge of operational affairs Andrew Ryan and the tournament's
officer Charoen Wattanasin.
The AGM meeting, which was held concurrently with the ongoing
Thomas and Uber Cups here, was attended by delegates from 137
countries.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated the meeting at
the State Palace, making her the first head of state ever to open
the meeting.
Increasing the number of participating country members in the
Olympics will require a change in the qualifying format.
To reach the target, the IBF began a decentralization program
three years ago when Dabbaransi took office.
The program entailed establishing confederation offices in
five key continents: the United States for North America, Denmark
for Europe, Malaysia for Asia, New Zealand for Australia/Oceania
and Mauritius for Africa.
Dabbaransi said that those offices were responsible for the
promotion and development of badminton in their respective
regions.
"The decentralization program has now enabled at least five
continents to be represented for the first time in the Thomas and
Uber Cups," he said.
The IBF will also pursue its "Continentalization Program", to
establish permanent training centers, coaching programs, and the
restructuring of the IBF Council and redistribution of IBF's
share of the Olympic TV revenues to the five continental
confederations for development projects.
The IBF members also agreed that they would become a signatory
to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code and create a
partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
They also elected six people as IBF Council members: Li
Lingwei of China, Eraj Wireshinge of Sri Lanka, Edgar Aglipay of
the Philippines, Robin Bryant of Australia, Puzant Kassabian of
Bulgaria and Peter Gachenu of Kenya.
Punch Gunalan of Malaysia and Eraj Wijesinghe of Sri Lanka
were elected vice presidents.