Announcement

Key Decisions – BWF Council Meeting

The BWF Council met in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday 11 November 2023 following five days of committee and commission meetings.

Please find enclosed, information related to the decisions of the BWF Council:

  1. Governance Related Decisions
  2. Membership Updates: New Associate Member (Chad BF)
  3. Events Related Regulation Changes
  4. The BWF Statutes

________________________________________________________________________________

  1. Governance Related Decisions

The BWF Council approved a “Transgender Interim Policy”, which describes the BWF’s interim position until further research is made in relation to the question of participation of transgender athletes in badminton at elite levels. The document is linked here.

The BWF Council also endorsed a Safeguarding Plan, which describes responsibilities for badminton stakeholders in relation to safeguarding. Information about the Safeguarding Plan will be shared at a later time.

Finally, an updated version of the Judicial Procedures was approved. This document will be published shortly.

________________________________________________________________________________

  1. Membership Updates: New Associate Member (Chad BF)

Under Clause 11.2 of the BWF Constitution, the Council admitted the Chad Badminton Federation as an Associate Member of the BWF.

This means that there are now 201 BWF Members, including 11 Associate Members.

Please join us in welcoming the Chad Badminton Federation to the BWF community!

You will find more information about the BWF Membership on the Membership page (linked here). For more information about Associate Members, please see the relevant section on the BWF website (linked here).

________________________________________________________________________________

  1. Events Related Decisions / Regulation Changes

The BWF Council approved changes to the regulations related to badminton and Para badminton. The changes are summarised below and described further in the attached document.

The changes relate to the following themes:

In badminton:

  1. Instant Review System: Ability of the Referee to overrule inconsistent or obviously incorrect decisions.
  2. BWF World Junior Team Championships: The tournament will now follow a Relay Team Event format.
  3. Draw timelines for Grade 2, 3, and Junior International Tournaments: Starting Week 17 2024, the draw will move to one week before the start of the tournament.
  4. Main Draw Seeding Adjustments: Regulations are being finalised to allow the substitution of seeds in World Tour tournaments.
  5. World Ranking Points for Grade 1, HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, and Super 1000 Tournaments: From Week 17 2024, these tournaments will have increased World Ranking Points. For Super 1000 Tournaments, extra World Ranking points will also be granted if the prize money exceeds certain levels.

 

Other regulation changes relate to the following documents. Please see the detailed changes in the attached document:

  1. Section 5.4.1.2. – Regulations for Badminton Competition – Paris 2024
  2. Section 4.1.1 – Instructions to Technical Officials (ITTO)
  3. Section 5.1 – General Competition Regulations (GCR)
  4. Section 5.2.1 – Major Events Tournament Regulations Table
  5. Section 5.2.2 – World Tour Regulations
  6. Section 5.3.1 – Tournament Sanction Policy
  7. Section 5.3.3.1 – World Ranking System
  8. Section 5.3.6 – Player Commitment Regulations

 

In Para badminton – linked here:

  1. Service Laws: Changes to accommodate players with specific medical conditions.
  2. World Ranking: Allowance for players to carry-over their World Ranking points from the Continental Championships under certain conditions.
  3. World Circuit: No limit on the number of Grade 2 – Level 3 Tournaments in a calendar year.

 

The BWF Council also approved Wheelchair Seating Position Regulations, which will be in force from 12 February 2024.

________________________________________________________________________________

  1. The BWF Statutes

 Please see the BWF Statutes (linked here) for the full copy of the regulations in force following these decisions of Council – see in particular:

________________________________________________________________________________

For further information

For further information about the above, please contact the following:

  • For governance- and membership-related matters, please contact Stuart Borrie, BWF Chief Operating Officer, at: [email protected].
  • For events-related matters, please contact Christopher Trenholme, BWF Deputy Director – Technical Events Management, at:  [email protected]

Other Announcements 2024