Thomas Lund - BWF chief operating officer
PETALING JAYA: No one is forced to play when they are injured.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) acknowledge an issue raised by two-time Olympic Games men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark regarding their top players’ commitment rule.
The rule requires players to show up for selected tournaments but failure to comply, will see them served a fine of US$5,000.
BWF secretary general Thomas Lund understands the predicament of professional shuttler Axelsen.
“This statement is specifically in relation to Viktor Axelsen and his circumstances. We of course acknowledge that Axelsen is on a different spectrum in terms of earnings compared to other players,” said Lund.
“However, the principles outlined in our statement regarding their responsibility to the Tour is the same for all top players.’’
Lund said the rule highlighted by Axelsen has been there for more than 10 years.
“The rule referred by Viktor does not force players to play when injured, they need to show up for 1-2 days during the highest-level tournaments to support media and commercial activities.
“If the player attends the tournament, then the player has fulfilled all their obligations.
“If a player is physically not able to travel (e.g., in cases of very serious injury, surgery or similar where it is not considered medically reasonable for them to travel) the BWF will issue an exemption from not participating, and no further consequences apply.
“Only in cases where a player is medically capable of travelling but decides not to appear and participate in the minimum media-commercial activities to support the tournament, will the player be charged US$5,000 for non-participation.
Lund said they had never forced a player to play.
“To safeguard the players, the BWF leave it entirely up to each player to decide if they can play or not and, therefore, there are no obligations to force them to play. The BWF recognise that players should not in any way be forced to play with an injury.”
