Source: Panoramic /Baptiste Autissier
[Saba Sports News] The Paris Olympics are approaching, and the finalists for each competition have been determined. However, the Badminton World Federation has made a major error. Due to a miscalculation in their points system, there may be one extra team in the Olympic men’s doubles event, resulting in a total of 17 teams instead of the original 16. The issue arose when two pairs of men’s doubles players from the French team competed for Olympic qualifications, but neither of them entered the top eight, so only one pair could be shortlisted. When the combination of Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar surpassed the combination of Toma Junior Popov/Christo Popov, the Badminton World Federation suddenly revised the Olympic points and rankings of the two pairs. The reason was an incorrect points calculation for the 2023 Sudirman Cup team competition. If the correction had been made before the Olympic points competition started or at the beginning, there would probably have been less controversy. However, it was only corrected after nearly a year, resulting in the Corvee/Labar combination having lower points than the Popov combination and being unable to participate in the Olympics. Immediately, the French Badminton Association appealed the matter and requested that the Corvee/Labar combination be granted wild card qualifications to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, the Badminton World Federation did not grant special privileges to the Corvee/Labar combination. As a result, the French Badminton Association filed an arbitration with the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, requesting that the Badminton World Federation grant qualification to the Corvee/Labar combination. Now, the Badminton World Federation faces a problem. If implemented, there will be 17 teams in the men’s doubles event, including five teams in one group. It is estimated that no team will be willing to play an additional game, increasing the difficulty and physical strain of advancing.