BWF satisfied with World Championships venue upgrades after India Open criticism
New Delhi: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has expressed satisfaction with the extensive upgrades and cleaning work carried out at the ahead of the World Championships. The federation said that most of the problems that were highlighted after the earlier this year have been addressed.
The venue received massive backlash during the India Open Super 750 tournament in January after several players and officials filed complaints about poor hygiene, unclean toilets and the presence of pigeons and monkeys inside the complex. The director of BWF Events, Selvaamresh Supramaniam, said that they had conducted multiple inspections over the last seven months and found good improvements.
“We visited the stadium in January, February, April, June and then in the last couple of days. A lot of work has been done. Renovations to all the toilets, there’s been a lot of deep cleaning done, damaged seats have been replaced, a lot of sealing, wiring work has been done, broken ceilings have been replaced, and waterproofing was done on the roof.” He said an anti-pest gel has been applied on the roof beams to prevent birds from perching inside the arena,” Supramaniam said.
‘Our main focus still is to deliver a tournament that’s free from any problems’
He further added that they’ve almost finished putting gel on the roof, which prevents birds from sitting or perching on the beams. Supramaniam also added the venue was in much better condition than it was during the India Open.
“The last three days that I’ve been there, I’ve not seen any pigeons. I don’t know whether that’s because there are a lot of people or the gel is actually doing its job. I’ve not seen any monkeys as well,” he said.
He also added that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had also taken major steps to remove stray dogs from the complex, saying that they rounded up almost 60-odd dogs and sent them away. Supramaniam also said that efforts are being made to improve the presentation of the tournament, particularly the lighting, after it received massive backlash during the India Open.
“Our main focus still is to deliver a tournament that’s free from any problems. Competition comes first. The rest is all show,” he added. The BWF World Championships are set to begin on August 23 in New Delhi.
(With inputs from PTI)