The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Monday 29 May 2023 discussed the potential of allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in BWF sanctioned tournaments as individual neutral athletes.
BWF continues to express unwavering support to the people of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian badminton community, and we strongly condemn the invasion of Ukraine, which works against BWF’s core values and our objective to obtain peace.
Council equally aligns itself with the principles of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the global sports movement around open participation of athletes in international competitions.
The guiding principle for BWF is that athletes should always be allowed to participate in sport competitions without judgement of their passport and separate of any geo-political conflict outside the control of the sports movement.
Sport should foster peace and solidarity between all people and should not become a political vehicle for influence in geo-politics.
Therefore, a regulative and operational framework to allow athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to compete as individual neutral athletes has been commissioned to be presented to Council at its next meeting in August.
Such a framework shall follow the IOC’s eligibility criteria for participation and aim to ensure a safe and peaceful competition environment for all athletes.
BWF Council will then deliberate on the merits of the principles, framework and timeline to potentially lift the suspension of Russian and Belarussian athletes.
Council is to convene in Copenhagen in conjunction with the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2023 (21-27 August).
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