IBF president against importing players

JAKARTA (JP): The increasing number of people playing for other countries is troubling newly elected president of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) Korn Dabbaransi of Thailand.

Dabbaransi said he disapproved of the practice of importing players and would propose to the IBF council to halt it.

"I will stress on the nationality of the players. Importing players to play for their adopted countries should not be allowed anymore because it is against the philosophy of badminton and sports in general," he was quoted as saying by Bernama, on the sidelines of the World Championships at the San Pablo Sports Stadium in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday.

Dabbaransi said should the IBF agree with his proposal, the federation would have to establish a new mechanism to ban players from moving to another country and then representing it in international competitions.

"We may allow players to play for a club in their adopted countries, but not for the national team. As an example, look at the Manchester United soccer club, most of their players are foreigners," he said.

Dabbaransi said the IBF constitution was too lenient regarding the movement of players.

The IBF regulations state that a player can represent his or her new country as long as he or she has stayed in the country for at least three years.

So far, China and Indonesia have been supplying players for other countries.

As an example, Mia Audina, who moved to the Netherlands in mid-1999 to accompany her husband, competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics although she had only resided in that country for 15 months.

Another example is Fung Permadi, who has been living in Chinese Taipei for nearly a decade since quitting the Indonesian Badminton Center in the early 1990s. (yan)