The flag-related issue raised by a British Olympic official turned out to be a technical problem, said badminton venue chief Ren Chunhui Thursday, blasting at an Australian reporter for distorting the fact on the venue.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday that British Olympic official Clive Woodward complained in an official chef de mission meeting that the English flag had been hung at the badminton venue, not the Union Jack.
Ren Chunhui, the executive deputy director of Beijing Olympic badminton competition venue, immediately denied the report, saying that the flag incident happened at the draw ceremony held by the World Badminton Federation (WBF), not at the venue.
"Upon the confirmation of the WBF, we find it's the flags before athletes' names displayed on a computer screen during the ceremony that cause some misunderstanding, not the flags hung at the badminton venue," said Ren, noting that Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, the badminton competition venue, didn't hang the English flag, nor the Union Jack flag.
Flags attached to the players' names on the WBF web site represent member associations of the WBF, while the Olympic Games is participated in by athletes who belong to different member committees of the International Olympic Committee.
As the country which badminton originated in, Britain has three member associations in the WBF, which are Badminton Association of England, Badminton Scotland and Welsh Badminton Union.
Since all the British shuttlers qualified for the Beijing Olympics are from Badminton Association of England, the flag before their names was displayed as the English flag, Ren explained.
"The reporter made a groundless accuse on the badminton competition venue without checking the fact," said the venue chief. "It's totally irresponsible."
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)