Badminton/Asian Championships: Committee to investigate Busan fiasco S. Selvan in Bangkok Nov 16: THE International Badminton Federation (IBF) has set up a working committee to investigate, report and make recommendations to resolve the issue of biased judging in the sport. In the wake of the recent controversy which bogged the Asian Games competition in Busan last month, IBF has appointed Torsten Berg to head the committee. And to underline its seriousness, the international body has given Berg until February to conclude investigations and hand the report to the IBF executive board. The IBF will hold its next executive board meeting in England in February. "We view the recent developments with great concern, and as such, we have appointed Torsten Berg to head the working committee to look into improving the quality of officiating the sport," said IBF executive director Neil Cameron in Bangkok yesterday. "He will rope in several others to sit in the committee and they will investigate, and if need be, interview the officials concerned on what happened in Busan." In the Games, hosts Korea were accused of biasness when its line judges made several hotly disputed line calls. In fact, in the men's team final, play was disrupted for almost two hours when Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat refused to continue after several disputed calls. The Indonesians claimed bias officiating but were coaxed into playing. Indonesia, however, lost the team title to Korea. Following the incident, the Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC), the governing body for badminton in Asia, was flooded with calls to use neutral line judges. In fact, some even proposed that electronic sensors be used to decide on line calls. "There are some ideas and proposals that we have gathered thus far. However, we don't have the full information as it involved several parties in Busan. "However, the committee will not be starting from scratch. We are aware of the calls to allow the umpire to overrule the line judge, and to allow video replays as well," said Cameron. "But we have given the committee until our next executive board meeting, and lets see what they come up with." Cameron also said that IBF will not change the present scoring format of 11 points for the mixed doubles and women's doubles despite pressure from certain countries. "As it stands, we have no plans in the immediate future to change the scoring system." On the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup, Cameron said IBF has received bids from Japan and Indonesia. "We are looking at several proposals and have also received a few other bids. But some of them are not financially viable and we will inform these countries of it soon. "We are looking at the income generating capacity of the host country, and that means Asian countries have the advantage." "But I would like to reiterate that we will only make a decision during the World Championships in Birmingham next year."
Electronic sensors? I'm thinking of James Bond-esque laser wires and pressure-senstive floors... that'll do it just fine, and maybe give Badminton a nice image boost too. I'm sure it won't cost too much, since the DDR dance mats are only $50 USD for PS2 and comes with DDR 3. Laser door chimes are only $50 too. Anyone else thinks this is a good idea?
which one costs more? camera or sensor? but then again, the crowd would be more convinced if it was a camera... oh well, we'll see what happens.
