BWF denies talk about fining players who rejoin BWF tournaments

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has quashed a recent news report that shuttlers will have to pay a fine if they decide to join back any tournaments sanctioned by BWF after sitting out for a year.

BWF Secretary-General, Thomas Lund clarified that fines would only be imposed on players who decide to skip tournaments without valid reasons.

"If these players decide to skip even two or three weeks before the tournament, they are still liable to pay the fine that we will impose," Lund told reporters when met after attending the BWF Council Meeting, here today.

He said players were exempted from paying the fine if they had strong reasons including nursing a serious injury, which would not affect their position in the BWF World Rankings.

"Retired players who decide to join back any tournament under our sanction after a year, they are allowed to do so as long they give us three months notice," Lund added.

Meanwhile, Lund said that the 11 points scoring system would not be implemented at the upcoming Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from May 21-18.

He said that such a scoring point system would not be suitable for implementation at the moment as BWF feels that the current 21 points scoring system was well-received by the players themselves.

Prior to this, a local sports portal reported that Malaysian badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei was in favour of the 11 points scoring system as it would give advantage to experienced players.

For the record, the current 21 points scoring system has been in practice since 2006, four years after the BWF introduced the best of five sets seven points scoring system. - BERNAMA