Badminton Asia (BA) chief operating officer Saw Chit Boon has rubbished talk of an Asian snub of the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals.
Speaking to the press after a digital partnership signing with the Sports Innovation and Technology Centre (SITC) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Chit Boon said it is every country's right and prerogative to decide on whether to travel abroad.
The Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals, originally scheduled for Oct 3-11, have been postponed to next year by Badminton World Federation (BWF) following several withdrawals which include 13-time Thomas Cup winners, Indonesia. South Korea and Thailand were the Asian countries which pulled out earlier.
It is learnt that European media have been reporting the withdrawals as an Asian snub.
"I don't think we should be reading too much into this Personally I feel it is every country's right and prerogative to decide on whether to travel abroad.
"The thing is every country has got its own SOPs (standard operating procedures) and safety measure when it comes to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is only happening because Denmark was supposed to be the host. Will we be saying the same thing if an Asian country were to be the host?" said Chit Boon.
Apart from the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, the Denmark Masters, one of the two tournaments on the European leg of the World Tour, has also been called off.
Only the Denmark Open on Oct 13-18 will go on as planned, marking the resumption of international badminton for the first time since March.
Timesport reported recently former World No 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark almost landed in hot soup when he was rumoured to have "warned" Asian players against competing in the Thomas and Uber Cups.
Meanwhile, the digital partnership between BA and UTM will see developing Asian countries benefit from an application that aims to improve the performance of athletes who are part of the Asia Olympic Project (AOP).
AOP is a programme that supports talented athletes from developing countries in improving their performance and qualify for the Olympics.
The application will also be available for other member associations who are part of BA.