“Our proposal to end the crisis is to qualify the two French couples”, wishes the president of the French federation

After the calculation error made by the International Badminton Federation, the French men’s doubles pair, Ronan Labar and Lucas Corvéen, saw their Olympic dream disappear. In a press release, the French federation, until then silent, supports the two Frenchmen. But above all, ask the BWF to find a solution to qualify the two French pairs, the Popov brothers and Labar/Corvée. Which would be an unprecedented decision because normally only one ticket is awarded. Yohan Penel, the president of FFbaD, discusses this matter for RMC Sport.

Yohan Penel, we have not yet heard from you on this matter. What was your reaction last week to the ranking change?

Above all, it was an extremely happy reaction to the results of the French team in the EC, since we won the first two European titles in history. And this information was completely canceled by BWF’s miscalculation. There is both a sense of injustice and scandal and then a sense of injustice also because we have the impression that we are being robbed. And we were not entitled to media treatment for these exceptional performances. So actually, on two counts, we’re very angry about this.

Since then, there has been a press release from BWF, which acknowledges a mistake and justifies itself. How did you react?

As soon as this modified classification was published, we mobilized to ask for explanations. They arrived three days later with this inhuman press release. Which explains that it was actually a mistake. It was corrected a year later and circulated there is nothing to see, it is like that and not otherwise. So in fact it signifies a certain rigidity in the union, but above all an inhumanity that contrasts with the extraordinary fates and adventures our high-level athletes experience throughout the year. And the BWF must not forget that without the athletes it is no longer an international federation.

Because its economic model is based on dozens, even hundreds, of international events that take place throughout the year, and it is impossible today to be disrespectful in this way. Everyone has the right to make mistakes and I have no problem with a mistake being made in an algorithm that has to take regular rule changes into account. However, it is unthinkable that we would make changes a year later. If these changes had happened during the 2023 Olympic qualification, there would be no problem. The problem is that: on the form it is done secretly, without notifying anyone. Second, there is a change of points awarded a year later without ever acknowledging that this mistake in the first Olympic qualification tournament completely distorted the entire qualification process.

Messed up the tournament entries, messed up the seeding, messed up everybody’s strategies because there, obviously, Ronan and Lucas, that’s what stands out because they were eligible, they’re not anymore. But more than fifty pairs were affected by these modifications. So there is an upheaval in the whole world ranking. On the other hand, the only ones who have changed their Olympic status are Lucas and Ronan. Faced with this, it is unthinkable to be satisfied with this kind of laconic press release and move on to something else.

Since then, have you had any exchanges with the International Federation?

Never. Well yes and no. In the sense that we, our job for a week, has been to go through all the BWF regulations to find loopholes and then do things properly to find the terms of appeal and submit these appeals in coordination with the legal practitioners and with the CNOSF Ministry of Justice. As it is ultimately CNOSF that will select the players in the various disciplines. So we wanted to take our time, not rush, not miss any steps and find levers in the BWF regulations that show that it has not verified and applied its own rules on certain aspects and therefore file an official complaint.

So that’s a claim that was brought forward by the players’ lawyer that we supported. At the same time, we approached the elected members of the board of the International Federation because there is a general meeting this Saturday, and we must put pressure on the elected members so that we find a solution. There are several of them. But the one we recommend is obviously the 17-member solution, found in the BWF texts.

That is, we would go from 16 to 17 pairs in the Olympic Games?

Our proposal to end the crisis is actually to qualify the two French pairs. Both the one who is qualified in terms of the current ranking and which is a mathematical reality, and to qualify the pair who, in terms of the sporting aspect, qualified since they were still ahead until April 15. And therefore to move to 17 pairs, although the decision of the BWF will not be binding. Since the final decision rests with the IOC. Today’s organization at the Olympics is four groups of four. There will be three hens out of four and one out of five. Now here is the least bad solution with respect to sporting justice and the values ​​of Olympism that we remind you of: excellence, respect and friendship. This is the solution that seems best suited to the situation they have found themselves in.

But do you think this request can actually succeed?

Last week anyway, we were on our way to defend our athletes to the end, to go to the IOC, to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to once again highlight the issue of sporting justice, because this decision is incomprehensible. Our teams have done a fantastic job dissecting the BWF regulations. And considering the points of settlement that have been raised, there is real and concrete hope now. Obviously, the game is not won, and it won’t be won until the first day of the Games. Too much can happen. There may be appeals from many stakeholders.

Have you had discussions with Ronan Labar and Lucas Corvée, but also the Popov brothers?

We interact daily with Ronan, Lucas and their lawyer. To do things one more time, by everyone going in the same direction and without putting ourselves in conflict because we know very well how things can happen in such legal procedures. Christo and Toma Junior (Popov) understand the situation completely. Obviously they are happy to be qualified and it is out of the question for us to disqualify them in favor of Lucas and Ronan. Christo and Toma were informed today of all the steps we were to take, so that they would not be surprised by the various communications that would be made today.

But to go back to this calculation error, beyond the error of the BWF, could anyone, be it you in the association, or even the players counting their points, have seen this error?

As BWF’s press release says, they changed the rule for team competitions at the beginning of 2023. Algorithms don’t always follow the rules. We must all take our share of responsibility in this because anyone could have asked the question. And obviously someone asked about this since we wouldn’t have come up with a correction in the last week of Olympic qualifying, if that hadn’t been the case.

Of course, we are obliged to rely on our international federation which has an important aura on the international stage. In terms of influence on social networks, it is on the podium of international federations. It is an association that sells itself as highly professional in many ways. There comes a time when we must move forward with confidence. Well, yes, everyone could have realized that there had been a problem with these point allocations. Now the main responsibility remains on the shoulders of those who produce these regulations.