BWF postpones use of review technology

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said today 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.
While the exact system to be used is yet to be confirmed, Lund said it would involve camera-based technology.
Britain's Hawk-Eye system has become part of the landscape in top-level tennis, and is also well established in international cricket.

England's Premier League has sanctioned the use of Hawk-Eye from next season, a first for a domestic football league, while world body FIFA chose Germany's GoalControl system to police this year's Confederations Cup.