rio 2016: line prepare - svenska badmintonförbundet...badminton in the south american region for...

COCTALES ThE NEwSLETTEr of Bwf TEchNicAL officiALS

BADMiNToN worLD fEDErATioN www.bwfbadminton.org

for the 50 Brazilian line judges and they have received competition experience at the recent inaugural Brasil Open Grand Prix in August,” noted BWF Events Director Darren Parks.

“They will also get further opportunities to officiate at the 2015 Brasil Open Grand Prix – which will also be the test event for the Rio Olympic Games – and several Level 4 international events in Brazil.”

The priority is to ensure that officiating at the 2016 Olympic badminton competition is of the highest standard. However, it’s also important that a legacy of trained volunteers is left in the host community, country and confederation.

“Therefore, our plans have been developed with these goals in mind and we will be aiming to help develop badminton in the South American region for years to come.”

BWF is developing and training a team of 80 line judges – including 50 Brazilians – for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games competition.

Working closely with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, the Confederacao Brasileira de Badminton and the Pan Am Badminton Confederation, BWF will supplement the locally-recruited ranks with 20 international line judges and ten Pan Am Confederation line judges.

Jean-Guy Poitras (CAN) – a member of the Technical Official Commission – as well as Gaby Shirly (BRA) and Abby Kumar (ENG) have been recruited to assist with the training and mentorship of this pool of line judges. Abby served as coordinator of the line judges for the London 2012 Olympic Games and brings great passion and dedication with his recent experience.

“There have already been several training sessions

OCTOBER 2014 EDITION NO. 5

Rio 2016: LINE JuDgEs PREPaRE WELL DoNE: Referees at the Li-Ning BWF World Championships 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, receive tokens of appreciation from BWF Events

Chair, Peter Tarcala (left). From second left are: Isabelle Jobard (FRa); Michel Nemec (auT); and Junichiro Yamada (JPN).

BADMINTON WORLD FEDERATION www.bwfbadminton.org

We hope you enjoy COCTales 5 which raises some important issues such as integrity and being in a position as a role model. Not a day goes by in the uK when some incident hasn’t made the news headlines where social media has either leaked a story or someone has been caught in a compromising situation. Without sounding like stern head teachers, we just wish to reiterate the importance of being careful around the powerful force of social media. although we should embrace this media world, it must be with a sense

EDITOR’S MESSAGEof responsibility and awareness. We also touch on the technology which will take our sport to the next level and give you an overview of the notes from the last Technical Official Commission meeting.

Please send us your views and enjoy this edition.

RegardsVANESSA FREEmANEDiTOR-iN-ChiEF

A referee should not referee in his own country. however, BWF has for financial reasons used several BWF referees as deputies in their own country. We are phasing this out now. Now, we only allow nationals to serve as assistant referees (i.e. without the right to take decisions unless under the authority of the referee).

As a BWF umpire you must think about what invitations you receive. if you feel in any way suspicious or uneasy that your host may expect some favours in return, perhaps it is better to decline a generous offer.

in conclusion, try to think carefully what others may think about your integrity before you accept any assignment. Once you have accepted, carry out your duties diligently and obviously neutrally. Please reserve any comments you may have on players and officials to a very close circle of friends. if you put them on Facebook or other modern media, they may well come back to you in a way you – and BWF – might not have foreseen nor appreciate.

Thanks your professionalism and we trust that you will maintain it.

When on duty, a BWF technical official should feel and appear totally neutral to the outside world. indeed, even off duty outside the court, you must try to appear reasonably neutral.

That said, we are all individuals with baggage and strings attached!

As a referee (or umpire) you must be careful and limit your contact with your country’s team manager and players. They may be your very good friends, but you may also have to take decisions that influence their results and careers. Opponents should feel sure that you have no bias.

historically, for many years, herbert Scheele was an iBF top referee and also the IBF General Secretary. Of course, this was a conflict of interest.

When i became President of EBU/Badminton Europe in 1992 i stopped refereeing for EBU, as i thought the president should be the last port of call in a conflict. When I left the presidency and became BE/EBU Council Member for Development and Vice-President, I saw no conflict, well not for refereeing BWF events (TC/UC) in Europe. i have never received any adverse comments or heard any rumours related to this.

TEchnIcAl OffIcIAlS’ InTEGRITy

FROM THE CHaIR BY

TORSTEn BERG


PagE 3

announcements when a player has challenged a line

call, as well as allowing for a “nominated technical

official” to serve as the designate to make the decision

of iN, OUT or NO DECiSiON upon review of the rally.

BWF will continue looking for opportunities to facilitate

and improve the use of iRS which may mean further

adjustments to the RTTO and vocabulary sections of

handbook ii.

All updated regulations for handbook ii can be found at:

http://www.bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14915

IRS ScORInG TABlET funcTIOnAlITyBWF has worked closely with Visual Reality to introduce

and test functionality for the instant Review System (iRS)

with the umpire scoring tablets used at BWF top-level

tournaments.

The new software was utilised for the first time during all

As the instant Review System (iRS) becomes increasingly

integrated into our major Events and metLife BWF World

Superseries, we have been improving it for the betterment

of fans, players and technical officials.

One of the key measures of success for a technical official

is confidence on the field of play. This confidence comes

from practical experience, as well as through studying and

understanding the laws and regulations, and new systems

and processes - like the iRS.

IRS REGulATIOn upDATESAt the most recent BWF Council meeting (may 2014), the

following key sections were updated:

• Laws – Appendix 7 now allows the umpire to choose to

use the iRS to make a decision if he/she is unable to make

a decision on an “undecided” call by the line judge. in this

case, no challenge opportunity is lost by either player.

• RTTO – more clarity on umpire signals and verbal

EvOlvInG InSTAnT REviEW SySTEM

Continues on page 4


PagE 4

Statistics for collection include the following:

EVENT TOTALChALLENGES UNSUCCESSFUL ChALLENGES SUCCESSFUL NO DECiSiON TOTAL NUmBER OF ChALLENGES Side lines Base lines Long service lines Number of mS matches with challenges Number of WS matches with challenges Number of mD matches with challenges Number of WD matches with challenges Number of XD matches with challenges Total Number of matches with challenges Number of challenges per match (average) Number of matches played on the iRS court Total number of matches in the tournament

To access the updated template, click on:

http://www.bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14909

matches on Court 1 – which was designated for television

coverage and the IRS – at this year’s Li-Ning BWF World

Championships in Copenhagen.

Above are screen shots of the main page of the scoring

tablet and the “Challenge” pop-up window when one of

the two challenge buttons is pressed.

An instruction manual will be distributed to all technical

officials shortly, if you haven’t already received one.

IRS SEcTIOn In REfEREE REpoRtThe Referee Report template has been updated with a

new iRS section, to ensure we continue to collect key

statistics on this system and to evaluate how it is working.

Continued from page 3


in Dongguan, China in may.• To BWF Certificated Level – BWF World Championships

2015 in Jakarta, indonesia in August. Carol Ui Fheorghail (iRL) was appointed a BWF Umpire Assessor, with immediate effect, until 31/12 2018. Umpire Assessors will be running appraisals at the following BWF World Superseries and Grand Prix Gold events in 2015:• All England Championships• malaysia Open• US Open• Yonex Open Japan• Denmark Open • hong Kong Open BWf REfEREESCongratulations to Yogen Bhatnagar (AUS) who has been promoted to an Accredited Referee. There will be a workshop for potential BWF Accredited Referees, during the malaysia Open Superseries Premier in march 2015. From next year, a development grant will be available for referees from Pan America, Africa and the island states of Oceania.

TEchnIcAl OffIcIAl DEvElOpMEnT AnD GROWThOne of the key discussions was on short and long-term strategies to increase the size of and develop the quality of the technical-official workforce. Several action items were determined and will be initiated by staff and commission members. This will include materials to assist member associations and continental confederations with the identification and recruitment of both referees and umpires at the national level. The next meeting of the TOC will be held in Jakarta, indonesia, during the BWF World Championships 2015.

The Technical Official Commission (TOC) held its annual meeting on 28 August in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the Li-Ning BWF World Championships 2014. here are the highlights from the meeting: The following representatives were present:

• Torsten Berg (Chair)• Peter Tarcala (Events Committee Chair)• Jean-Guy Poitras (PanAm)• Ewald Cejnek (Europe)• Peter Cocker (Oceania)• Nahathai Sornprachum (Asia)• Jen Ponamabalum (Africa)

PLUS: Darren Parks (BWF Events Director) and Chris Trenholme (BWF Technical Events manager) Diraj Gooneadry also attended the meeting as he will be taking over from Jen Ponamabalum as the African representative. The Committee thanked Jen for his support and contributions to this Commission. BWF Umpires Opportunities for promotion will take place at the following events:

• To BWF Accredited Level – BWF Sudirman Cup 2015

TEchnIcAl OffIcIAl cOMMISSIOn MEETInG


to help that person improve his/her performance that may not have been up to the required standards. This may be due to various factors since he/she was upgraded.

The goal is to help retain the required standards and to contribute to the individual’s professional and personal growth. Everyone benefits from this: the referee, the umpire, the athlete and, most importantly, badminton itself.

A referee and/or umpire always wants to perform to his/her best. Everyone understands there are always improvements to be made and it is important that constructive feedback is provided. To be fair and honest with an assessment, it must be done properly, with careful attention and comprehensive recommendations for it to be worthwhile.

Should a BWF umpire be assessed at two consecutive events, and found to be performing at less than the expected standard, a formal re-assessment is required. At the next assigned event for that BWF umpire, he/she will be re-assessed by Umpire Assessors from different continents.

The Technical Official Commission supports this constructive approach. One of the main reasons for re-assessment for a BWF referee or umpire is

RE-ASSESSMEnT – A pOSITIvE pERSpEcTIvEBy JEAn-Guy pOITRAS

MODEl BEhAvIOuRadvised by BWF and the referee in charge and we smile! We are punctual but, if circumstances beyond our control mean we are delayed, we inform the relevant persons. Off court, it’s important to relax with our colleagues; keeping some distance from players and team officials, especially from our own country. That way we maintain as much neutrality as possible to on-lookers.

During tournaments, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep so we will be well rested and ready to assume our duties the following day.

BWF Technical Officials are role models both on court and off court. Best practices have been passed down from our predecessors and we should continue improving these as we seek to be top officials in the game.

We must always be aware that we are role models and never forget that badminton is a global sport catering to a diversity of cultures. When we officiate in an environment other than the one to which we are accustomed, we must take care to live up to the ideals of being role models.

On court, we dress in an appropriate uniform; we officiate as we are

RIO 2016 - cAllInG ThE WORlD’S vOlunTEERS!The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games are now inviting interested people to register for the Rio 2016 Volunteers Programme.

Expertise is being sought in several areas, including ceremonies production, customer service, health services, operational support, press & communication, protocol & languages, sports, and technology.

Volunteering at an Olympic games offers a unique opportunity to be involved in the greatest sporting event in the world and to experience the games’ atmosphere up close while meeting people from different cultures. It’s something to be remembered for a lifetime. Registration closes 15 November, 2014.

For further information, please see the following details: Website: www.rio2016.com/volunteers or Tel: +55 21 3004-2016.

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