Decisions of the BWF Council Meeting Approved Regulation Changes

1. Tournaments Must Run All Five Events

The General Competition Regulations now specifically note that hosts of BWF sanctioned tournaments must run all five events, however, BWF will allow exemptions to this requirement on a case-by-case basis for 2022 tournaments only.

2. Placement of Teams – Sudirman Cup / Thomas & Uber Cup Finals

To provide for a more even distribution of strength, teams ranked nine to 12 will placed into the third position in the groups, and team ranked 13 to 16 will be placed in the fourth position in the groups.

3. Distribution of World Ranking Points for BWF World Tour Finals

To provide a better distribution of World Ranking points, players/pairs finishing in the third and fourth positions in their respective groups in the BWF World Tour Finals will receive different points.

4. Withdraw / Retiring – Matches between Players from Same Association

World Ranking System, Clause 4.4 was introduced by BWF Council in 2015 in response to concern of noticeable instances of withdrawals and lack of best effort, especially in matches between players/pairs from the same Member Association, and most notably, during the Olympic qualification period.

While there has be a noticeable reduction in withdrawals and retirements since the introduction of this clause, it has continued to be a debated topic, in part because it was considered as potentially and unreasonably penalising players who were legitimately injured during a match against a player/pair from the same Member Association, with recent examples.

As such, clause 4.4 has now been removed from the regulations, however, BWF will closely monitor any withdrawals and retirements to ensure no issues arise.

At the same time, Member Associations and your team managers, coaches, and players are encouraged to ensure ethical behavior and fair play are always adhered to.

5. Abuse of the Opportunity to Retire from a Match

There have been recent cases where a player/pair has gone onto court to play one or a few points without making any real effort to play and then retired. BWF does not consider this to be reasonable.

The Players Code of Conduct has been updated to note that a player must be reasonably convinced to be fit to play the full match and that retirements are only intended for bona fide injuries, illnesses, or emergency situations.

Any blatant abuse of the choice to retire will be considered an offence.