BWF: No comment on role in Zilberman visa

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) refused any comment on its role in the acquisition of a visa for Israel’s Misha Zilberman.  Journalists were not permitted to interview Zilberman after his 14-21, 14-21 loss to Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei.  A BWF spokesperson cited security concerns about the tournament’s mixed zone area and said that a decision had been made jointly with Indonesian security authorities to have Zilberman bypass security and be interviewed by BWF staff in an alternate location.  The time of Zilberman’s match was also changed at the last minute from 11:15AM to the start of proceedings at 9AM.

The spokesperson refused to comment on the BWF’s role in getting Zilberman a visa or specifically on the earlier reports in The Jerusalem Post that their Secretary General had flown to Singapore to escort the player to Indonesia.

• Note: Later in the day, the BWF confirmed the reports that Thomas Lund made a trip to Singapore in regards to Zilberman’s problem, but at the time, gave no more details on its involvement.