Russian And Belarusian Badminton Athletes May Compete Again In February 2024, But...

JAKARTA - The ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes to appear in international badminton events will be lifted in February 2024. However, they will appear without bringing their country's frills or "individual neutral athletes".

This was conveyed by the President of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Poul-Erik Hoyer. He called this a positive step.

"We feel the decision to lift the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet the criteria to participate as individual neutral athletes is a positive step forward as part of our efforts to promote peace and solidarity," Hoyer said.

"This is an important decision for this sport. The BWF continues to express its steadfast support to the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian badminton community, and we strongly condemn the invasion of Ukraine that goes against the core values of the BWF and our goal of achieving peace," he continued.

Several areas of regulation and operations are still being determined and developed in the following months to complete the operational framework. Meanwhile, the process to determine the feasibility of athletes will now begin.

This framework follows the criteria for the feasibility of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate and includes a detailed administrative process to support the entry of players from Russia and Belarus as neutral athletes.

The player's feasibility panel will be set up to conduct a trial and check all entry requirements. The BWF will then monitor the behavior of each individual neutral athlete to observe that they comply with these provisions.

"The BWF board also aligns itself with the principles of the IOC and global sports movements around the athlete's open participation in international competitions," Hoyer said.

"Many efforts have been made to create a safe and comprehensive process to support this decision and important protocols have been implemented to protect all participants in the future," he added.

The practical implementation of the framework and participation of "Individual neutral athletes" in the BWF calendar will be carried out through dialogue with Host Members in each championship, including mitigation of the risk of tournament cancellation or other disproportionate impacts on tournament organizers.

"BWF has been working closely and constructively with the IOC on the matter to ensure a credible, reliable and holistic decision-making process," said BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund.

"We believe in the transparency of this framework and it is important for us to focus on the future steps and provide a safe and fair sport for all players," he added.