When the Great Dane faces off with BWF, all is not fine

IF I had to choose someone as the face of badminton, it would be Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. Why?

For one, the world No. 1 and Olympics champion is such a great ambassador for the sport.

The 29-year-old father of two adorable children articulates well about the game in Danish, English and even Chinese. He is just so natural and sincere.

I was in his house in Odense with media friends from Asia in 2015, thanks to a sponsored trip by the Denmark BA to provide coverage for their home Open then.

The 21-year-old was in the early stages of stardom and was humble. Together with his father Hendrik, they made us feel right at home.

He was picking up Mandarin then but conversed well with a reporter from China and entertained all requests for questions and photo shoots.

His bedroom was simple but filled with photos and trophies won since he was young – underlying his undying love for the game.

He shared his dream and passion, which sounded like some Hans Christian Andersen fairytale but this badminton hero turned it into reality. Incidentally, Andersen is from Odense, too.

Despite having won all major titles in the world, Axelsen remains humble, yet full of charisma and character.

And that character came to the fore in his spat with the World Badminton Federation (BWF) over a US$5,000 (RM22,817) fine imposed on him for skipping the Singapore Open, and on his claim over delayed payment of prize money.

As always, Axelsen has his points. He wants the BWF to review their player commitment regulations.

Top players are required to attend selected top-tier tournaments and must justify their reasons – injuries or otherwise – for no-shows. If the reasons are not valid, they are fined US$5,000 (RM22,817) and there could be disciplinary action too.

Unhappy with the fine, Axelsen tweeted that he skipped the Singapore meet because he was still not at his best due to an injury sustained at the Sudirman Cup. He wanted to be at his best for the following week’s Indonesian Open, which he eventually won.

What irked Axelsen, was the reply by the world body.

“Player welfare is of utmost importance to BWF, and we appreciate and welcome athletes’ feedback on matters relating to it. BWF, however, would like to clarify that parts of this (Axelsen’s) statement are inaccurate and out of context, and as such, are displeased by the reaction of the player.”

Axelsen then let loose with another scathing Twitter message.

“Which part is wrong? The player obligation: I understand we have obligations and that is totally fine, I personally love to promote the sport, but to make athletes travel at their expense, even though injured, is that fair?

“I’m not talking about myself only. For some players, the budget is limited and having to travel on their own expense without taking part is a big blow to their budget.

“If that’s how you want it, fine. But don’t tell me players’ welfare is of utmost importance to you. If that was the case, you would invest in plane tickets and 1-2 days of hotel stay for athletes who are obligated to do promotions.”

Axelsen is not the only one facing the fine. Even Malaysia’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin have been penalised for skipping the Singapore Open – even though the news of their reunion only came after the closing date for entries.

Outgoing Badminton Association of Malaysia chief executive officer Michelle Chai tweeted: “Got fined for failing to send Din-Fei even though they were no longer a pair (at that time). It’s important to look at the merit of each case before deciding to fine or not.”

Axelsen also said he understood the prize money payment process but felt the world body had enough money in the coffers to pay up first.

“If athletes’ welfare is so important to you, why don’t BWF make sure the prize money is paid on time first? I can see you have more than enough capital to make sure athletes get their prize money on time.”

He shared a screenshot of the world body’s annual income, which showed it had total assets and liabilities of slightly more than US$52mil (RM237mil).

Does Axelsen have the right to question the regulations? Why not?

Who should question if not the athletes? After all, isn’t the federation for the players?

The BWF headquarters is right here in Kuala Lumpur at Platinum Park, KLCC – a posh, expensive place to be at – unlike the previous office in Cheras.

Don’t players like Axelsen deserve some of that platinum treatment too? The shuttle is in BWF’s court, really.