Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat could face a minimum three-month ban from international competition after he angrily walked off the court just three minutes into his quarter-final against Lin Dan at the Hong Kong Open.
Paisan Rangsikitpho, chairman of the events committee of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), said yesterday that the Indonesian might have violated chapter 4.3 of the players' code of conduct, which dealt with failure to complete a match.
'The incident will be discussed by the IBF at the world championships in Madrid in two weeks and if he is found guilty, he will face suspension from international events,' Rangsikitpho said.
The IBF official said that as there was no precedent, he could not say with certainty how long any suspension would be. However, he predicted the ban could be between three and six months. The prize money he won for reaching the quarter-finals (US$2,500) would also be docked.
Taufik abandoned the match on Thursday when he disagreed with a line call while trailing 4-1.
The Indonesian ace at first thought he had won the point when he saw the lineswoman rule Lin's return long, but the lineswoman immediately changed her decision and ruled the ball good.
A furious Taufik questioned the lineswoman's judgment and approached the umpire to have the call reversed. The umpire turned down his request and Taufik decided to quit.