KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said yesterday it was delaying indefinitely the live implementation of line-call review technology to address “last-minute issues” that have cropped up in testing.
Line-calls are a flashpoint in badminton, with players often complaining about officials making erroneous or biased decisions, and the sport plans to follow tennis and football in using technology to reduce the risk of human error.
After testing its system in the Malaysian Open this year and last month’s Sudirman Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the sport’s world governing body had planned to go live at next week’s Indonesia Open.
Instead, the BWF “will continue testing the line-call technology in an effort to resolve some last-minute issues which arose during the recent testing”, it said in a statement.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund was quoted saying the testing would continue at the Indonesia event. No new date for a live roll-out was given.
But Lund said the BWF was committed to line-call review technology.
“The system is designed to protect the players and the integrity of the game, so we feel it is only prudent to be sure we can guarantee that the system will perform perfectly,” he said.AFP
