EURO MIXED TEAM CHAMPS 2015 – Spain out, France with suspended coaches

The European Mixed Team Championships are about to kick off in Leuven, Belgium, on Wednesday morning, but things have not gone smoothly for two of the 12 participating countries.

By Raphaël Sachetat. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

A few days ago, right after the Spanish National Championships finished, former national team player Pablo Abian (pictured) was calling on others to sign a petition to support his case against the Spanish Federation, who had not put his name down on the list of participants for the European Championships, in spite of his gold medal in the Nationals.

Last night, a statement from Badminton Europe explained that the whole Spanish team would not be travelling to Leuven, for another problem: “Spain was drawn into Group 3, together with reigning champion Germany and Scotland. The Spanish Badminton Federation has informed Badminton Europe last night that they withdraw their team from participation in the 2015 European Mixed Team Championships due to internal issues around player publicity rights. Due to the withdrawal of the Spanish team Germany and Scotland are through to the quarter-finals.”

This makes an easy path to the quarter-finals for both Scotland and Germany as Spain had promised to be a tough opponent with reigning World Champion Carolina Marin as part of the team.

French head coaches suspended

Another team has arrived in Leuven with a lot on their minds – France’s best players will compete without their two head coaches both for singles and doubles – Bertrand Gallet and Svetoslav Stoyanov. The majority of the French players have been arguing with the French BA (FFBAD), saying that they didn’t want to participate in the upcoming European Games in Baku because it was in the way of their Olympic preparation.  The Baku Games, unlike the Pan Am Games in July, do not give any world ranking points and are being held at the same time as two Grand Prix tournaments, in Canada and in the USA, which do offer important ranking points during the Olympic qualification period.

The French BA, on the other hand, want to send the best team to Azerbaijan to try to collect important medals for the nation. A clash was very close to happening as the players threatened not to go to Leuven to make their point.  A few minutes before the team was about to drive from INSEP to Leuven, they heard that their head coaches were suspended for taking part in the dispute.

Both sides are now using the media and social networking to explain their point of view. France’s top shuttler Brice Leverdez has published a poll on his Facebook Page on whether it was more important to have a medal at the European Games or at the Olympics.

The French team has arrived in Leuven, nevertheless, and should be participating in the competition before a probable further discussion with French officials after the tournament.

France will be the first team to play on Wednesday, against Sweden.

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