Candidates – Athletes’ Commission Elections

In May 2017, there will be elections for three positions of the Athletes’ Commission. The elections will take place by email from 26 April 2017. Players competing at the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup can also vote at the competition venue on 24 May 2017. Please see the Athletes’ Commission page of the website, for the letter from the Chair of the Commission about the elections and this letter describes the process.

Nominations for Elections 

Nominations for the BWF Athletes’ Commission Elections closed at midnight on 27 March 2017. At the close of nominations, nine (9) valid nominations had been received – and these are (in alphabetical by the first name):

1. Akville Stapusaityte – LIT
2. Edwin Ekiring – UGA
3. Koo Kien Keat– MAS
4. Kirsty Gilmour – SCO
5. Luis Ramon Garrido Esquivel – MEX
6. Marc Zwiebler – GER
7. Nikhar Garg- IND
8. Pusarla V. Sindhu – IND
9. Yoo Yeon Seong – KOR

Please download the profiles of the candidates for elections to the BWF Athletes’ Commission.

Vacant Places

As per the letter from Yuhan Tan, the Chair of the Athletes Commission, there are three (3) vacant places for those Commission Members whose term expires in May.

The BWF has learned however, that current Athlete Commission Member, Tang Yuanting, has resigned from the Athletes’ Commission, and under the rules (see clause 9.3.7), this casual vacancy can be filled at the next election.

This means that there are in fact four (4) vacancies to be filled at the next election from the nine (9) candidates so nominated.

The fourth vacancy however – must be a female athlete to replace Tang Yuanting.

Determining the Result

Therefore in the elections, after all the votes are cast and the poll is closed, the winning candidates will be calculated as follows:

1. the male with the highest number of votes
2. the female with the highest number of votes
3. the candidate (male or female) with the next highest number of votes

These three elected will serve a 4 year term.

And to replace the member who has resigned to complete the remaining 2 year term – this will be:

1. the female candidate with the 2^nd highest number of votes (or 3^rd highest number of votes if the third person elected to the Commission above is female).

Please see the rules regarding the voting, particularly clause 9.3.3 and clause 9.3.4 -those eligible to vote (linked here).

 Eligibility to Vote

Clause 9.3.4 defines those who are eligible to vote – Those eligible to cast a vote must:

• Be at least 19 years of age on the day they cast their vote.
• Be in good standing with their Member Association.
• Not serving a period of ineligibility with the BWF.
• Be An active player as defined by:
• Being on the top 200 of the first BWF World Ranking List published directly after the date the elections is called. (27 February 2017)

• Or have competed in the most recent BWF World Championships or Olympic Games or the most recent World Team Championships for – the Uber Cup, the Thomas Cup, or the Sudirman Cup

More information on the exact method of casting an email vote, will be available next week.