First AUthor:  Heather Parson

OFFICIATING in BADMINTON

The rules of any sport need officials to enforce them.  

In badminton, there are four main officials.

• Referee   The referee is the head hauncho of the badminton game.  He/She deals primarily with questions of law and is the go-to guy/gal if conflicts arise on the court, whether between the players, or the players and the umpire, etc.  The disputers confer with the referee and the referee makes the final call.  Problem solved.

• Umpire   The umpire is on the court ensuring safety and fairness, tracking score, and determining who wins.  The umpire has the final say of "in or out" regarding the shuttlecock, depending on the number of line judges. The umpire also watches for illegal serves.  If one is suspected, the service judge is brought onto the court for the rest of the match.^[1]

• Service Judge    Once the service judge is on the court, he or she remains there for the rest of the match to watch carefully for more illegal serves.  If one is called, the umpire reports it and appoints the next server.^[2]

• Line Judges   Badminton tournaments usually employ line judges, up to ten of them in fact, to stand around the court and watch for illegal line crossings, report them, and assist the umpire with making calls.  However, in big international tournaments such as the Olymics, all ten line judges are used and the umpire makes no line calls.