Macedonia quits Badminton Tournament in Greece
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Polikastro, Greece is the venue of the Balkan Youth tournament in Badminton which Macedonia had left due to blackmail by the host of the tournament.
Macedonia had entered the tournament with 6 players and two coaches. Prior to the beginning of the tournament the Greek hosts had asked the Macedonian team to remove their shirts or cover the term 'Macedonia'. As a solution the host offered shirts that said 'fyrom'.
The president of the Badminton Federation Dime Stefanovski ordered the team to leave the tournament while lodging complaint with the Balkan Badminton Federation.
"Puzant Kazabjan, the president of the Balkan Badminton federation saluted our decision to leave the tournament. Greece had been told by the Federation if Macedonia had nameless shirts, then the same would apply to every team at the Tournament. This was rejected by Greece" - says Stefanovski.
Macedonia is a member of the World Badminton federation under Fyr Macedonia, while in the European Federation as the "Macedonian Badminton Federation".
The constant problems with Macedonian national teams visiting Greece raises the question whether Macedonian athletes should go to Greece in the first place.
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