England Defends World Badminton Withdrawal

The England team has defended its decision to withdraw from the World Badminton Championships in India because of security concerns after receiving criticism from a number of the sport’s hierarchy.

The team denied claims they had ‘overreacted’ to a terrorist threat, saying there had not been ‘appropriate levels of security’.

The eight-strong squad pulled out of the tournament, which started this week Hyderabad, following reports in an Indian newspaper of a threat from Muslim extremists Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The team’s Indian hosts and Scottish colleagues have accused the English team of overreacting by pulling out of the sport’s World Championships, the most prestigious competition after the Olympic Games.

But the chief executive of Badminton England, Adrian Christy, said they were disappointed with levels of security.

‘I don’t think we have overreacted. We were very clear with our expectations of security before the championships.

‘We trained and prepared very hard in Qatar and went to Hyderabad with every intention of being met with appropriate levels of security considering recent attacks that had taken place in the country.

‘We were not particularly impressed with the level of security we were faced with – both on our arrival and subsequent days as we began our preparation through practice in the arena.’

He apologised to the International Badminton Federation and the organising committee in India.

‘The last thing England would want to do is let down our host or our international federation. The decision doesn’t affect how we feel about returning to India for the Commonwealth Games next year.’

Olympic champion Nathan Robertson said there had been a direct threat to the championships and players, and it was not a difficult decision to make particularly given they were travelling on a bus on back roads with no armed guards.

He said reports were saying the attack could possibly be along the same lines as that on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan in March. Militants attacked the squad’s bus, killing six policemen and one driver.

The Scottish badminton team have stated that they are ‘virtually prisoners’ in their hotel after England withdrew from the world championships in India with heightened security meaning it is now impossible to venture out without armed guards.

The Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistan-based organisation fighting against Indian control in Kashmir.

It has been blamed for several terrorist incidents in India including the October 2005 bomb attacks in Delhi, which saw 60 people killed, and is alleged to have played a part in the armed raid on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

The group was also linked with the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008, which killed at least 188 people.