Badminton World Federation suspends Russia’s membership

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has suspended the membership of the Russian National Badminton Federation (NRBR). The BWF decision, released on Thursday, notes that the decision was made in connection with the inclusion in the jurisdiction of the NFBR of territories that the international federation considers Ukrainian – the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The BWF’s actions echo steps previously taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). The latter was also subject to suspension for including new regions of the Russian Federation in the Olympic councils.

On Thursday, the Badminton World Federation announced the agreement agreed on November 11 at a meeting of the BWF Council solution on the suspension of membership of the NBFBR. The BWF statement posted on its official website indicates that the punishment was imposed for violation of the NFBR’s conditions of membership in the organization, namely, “the inclusion in its jurisdiction of territories falling under the jurisdiction of another BWF member, which is recognized by the international community.” We are talking about new Russian regions – the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. The decision of the BWF Council will come into force only after approval by the general meeting of the federation, the next meeting of which is scheduled for the end of April 2024 in Chengdu, China.

Most recently, the BWF made a decision seemingly aimed at softening its position towards Russia, allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international tournaments in a neutral status starting from February 26, 2024. The BWF explained that this decision remains in force and the federation will adjust its internal procedures so that Russian and Belarusian athletes can enter competitions directly through the BWF.

Badminton has brought almost no Olympic awards to the national team (one bronze since 1992, when the sport debuted in the Games program). But the fact is that other international federations may follow the example of the BWF.

After all, her actions are actually a copy of the decision made in mid-October by the International Olympic Committee. Then the IOC suspended for an indefinite period of the ROC precisely because of the inclusion in its composition of the Olympic Councils of the DPR and LPR, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. As practice shows, in the Russian issue, international sports federations often actually copy the actions of the IOC, even when they are in the nature of recommendations. Like the one given in the spring of this year, when the IOC abandoned the regime of complete isolation of Russian sports, introduced after the outbreak of events in Ukraine, and recommended allow Russians to participate in international competitions in individual events and disciplines, subject to the refusal of active support for a special operation and the absence of ties with the armed forces of the Russian Federation and “national security agencies.”

“Representatives of the BWF contacted us regarding our position regarding the IOC decision on R&D, which they take as the basis. We informed BWF functionaries that the NFBR does not make or announce political decisions, does not state its position and does not comment on the political decisions of other organizations. We also brought to the attention of the BWF that an appeal was filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the IOC decision regarding the ROC,” they said TASS at the NFBR.— The issue, as we emphasized in our letter to BWF, is complex and debatable. However, based on its guidelines, the BWF Council made a decision that undoubtedly worsens the development of badminton in the world and in no way contributes to a fair resolution of the situation. We will certainly prove the injustice of this decision by all legal means.”

Alexander Petrov