Sport - Badminton   

IBF to distribute $1 million for development projects

BANGALORE Dec. 24. The International Badminton Federation (IBF) is set to distribute over $1 million in 2005 to its five Continental Confederations for development projects, IBF President Korn Dabbaransi announced after the conclusion of the Federation's Council session in Kuala Lumpur.

As part of its drive towards continentalisation, IBF plans to propose to the 2004 AGM in Jakarta that it should allocate the money derived from its share of the Olympic TV revenues towards the global development of badminton, with the continental bodies receiving funding towards their own development objectives in 2005 as follows:

Asia: $250,000 Europe: $250,000 Pan America: $200,000 Africa: $150,000 Oceania: $50,000. Combined with money received through IBF's policy of refunding its Associations' annual subscription payments to the Continental Confederations, this will be a welcome cash injection of over $1 million towards the worldwide growth of the game.

President Dabbaransi also announced that the Olympic qualifying system would be revised ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in order to achieve IBF's target of representation by 50 National Olympic Committees at the 2008 event.

The IBF Council has also decided to continue with its current policy of nationality separation in competition draws, whereby only the top two-ranked players from each country are split into opposing halves of the draw.

The system had attracted criticism from some Associations who were keen to return to the old system of full nationality separation to avoid their players meeting in early rounds of competition.

But IBF has agreed to continue with its current regulations, aimed at boosting the diversity of players competing in the latter stages of events and increasing the sport's appeal to global TV audiences and sponsors.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• Waugh's men keen on settling scores
• India `A' makes it a merry Christmas
• India aiming for third win at MCG
• The special allure of Boxing Day Tests
  
  Tennis
  
• Gladwin in both finals
  
  Badminton
  
• IBF to distribute $1 million for development projects
  
  Chess
  
• Sethuraman holds Negi
• Vinoth humbles Himanshu
• Sahaja outwits Sai Nirupama
• Unseeded Ramkrishna in lead
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu