Badminton England start preparations for World Championships after Wembley nod

Badminton England, the national governing body, will meet world badminton officials in the next three weeks to begin preparations for the World Championships after an agreement was reached last week to host the sport at Wembley Arena in 2012. The 2011 World Championships, to be held in August, will be a test event for the London 2012 Olympics and negotiations will take place with the Badminton World Federation to fathom expectations for the event.

Locog, London 2012's organisers, finally reached an agreement last week for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics to be staged at Wembley Arena after months of prolonged negotiations.

The sports had initially resisted the change to base them in north Greenwich, the original plan, due to the increased travel times from the Olympic Village to north London.

Adrian Christy, Badminton England's chief executive, said: "It has been well known for some time that there have been issues and we have been sympathetic to that with the economic climate in mind.

"The logistical problem has been how to transport the players in a sensible time. No one expected it to last this long but the complexity of the athletes hotel and the training facilities have been a factor."

Badminton's training facility will be at Redbridge Sports Centre in Barkingside, Essex and will herald the sport's Olympic legacy after the Games.

Redbridge is currently completing a £6.3 million redevelopment and the 12-court facility will also host the other competing teams as an Olympic training venue.