Badminton

GB boss Christy on defensive over exit of head coach

The boss of Badminton England (BE) has denied Great Britain head coach Andy Wood was forced to quit because his position was being undermined.

Wood's exit earlier this month follows that of performance director Ian Moss in July, just 18 months into his job.
BE chief executive Adrian Christy admitted Wood resigned "believing his authority to be frequently undermined" but insisted: "That was not the case.

"Andy had all the support to make the decisions within the field of play."
But Christy added: "When [those decisions] lacked a clear outcome and posed a risk to the integrity of BE, they had to be questioned."

Christy said he appreciated concerns that the last 12 months had been disruptive for the sport so close to the 2012 Olympics, but insisted it was not in crisis.

As well as the loss of two high-profile members of staff, this year badminton lost £540,000 in funding as part of UK Sport's annual review, a move which Christy described at the time as "disappointing but a fair reflection of recent world level performances".

He said: "The past 12 months have been really challenging for our Olympic programme and I don't hide from the fact that it has caused far too much disruption to the development of our players.
"Our focus now is very much on rebuilding an environment that achieves success and to do that we need a team of coaches and athletes that are all working as one.

"When we feel that is not the case, we have to make changes.
"While I appreciate that causes some short-term disruption, we know we don't have much time and, if changes are necessary, we have to make them.

"We have lost some key staff in a short period and, of course, that creates uncertainty and a lack of continuity but it is critical for our world-class programme to establish a cohewww.12Bet.comsive training and competitive environment."
Christy added: "This is not a programme that is failing; it is a programme that has had a tough year but knows where it is going and I am determined we will get there."

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