BWF's Oversight Leads to CAS Awarding French Men's Doubles Spot at Paris 2024 Olympics
Trang Napie
Wed Jul 24 2024
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) found itself in a unique situation recently when a miscalculation led to French men's doubles pair Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar being awarded a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) intervened, prompting BWF to adjust its plans for the men's doubles draw.
Initially scheduled for Friday, July 12, 2024, the men's doubles draw for the Paris Olympics was delayed to Monday, July 15, 2024. This delay was due to the decision by CAS instructing BWF to propose Corvée/Labar as recipients of a spot in the Games, displacing the previously assumed top French pair, the Popov brothers.
BWF, complying with CAS's ruling, confirmed Corvée/Labar's participation, making them the 17th pair in the draw. As a result, BWF updated the men's doubles regulations, clarifying the draw principles and making exceptions for including 17 pairs. Despite the tight timeline, BWF ensured a fair process by not conducting the re-draw simultaneously with the other events planned for July 12, 2024.
During the draw ceremony, the French pairs were not seeded and, to prevent them from being grouped in the same pool, the higher-ranked Popov/Popov pair was drawn first, leaving Corvée/Labar to be randomly placed into one of the remaining three groups. A total of 174 athletes from 48 member associations, along with one athlete from the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, are now qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics men's doubles event.
Among the seeded pairs are Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (China), Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India), and Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae (South Korea), highlighting the diverse and competitive field set to compete at the upcoming Games.
The turn of events leading to the inclusion of Corvée/Labar in the Paris 2024 Olympics men's doubles draw showcases the complexity and fairness required in sports administration. With the support of CAS and IOC, BWF navigated through the challenges to ensure a just outcome for all athletes involved. As Paris 2024 approaches, badminton fans can anticipate thrilling matches from a talented and diverse pool of players vying for Olympic glory.