The Badminton World Federation (BWF) released a statement after a BWF Council meeting condemning Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and expressing concern for civilians affected by the conflict.
“The BWF firmly believes that any conflict should be resolved without resorting to violence of any kind and expresses its faith in the contribution of the sports movement to peace and solidarity among all,” the BWF said in a statement.
“The BWF is deeply concerned for the safety of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian badminton community, including players, coaches and officials,” the statement added.
“The BWF fully supports the public statement of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and expresses its disappointment and strong condemnation of the violation by the Russian and Belarusian governments of the United Nations General Assembly Olympic Truce. The BWF stands in full solidarity with the entire international sports movement in calling on all parties to end acts of violence and restore peace,” the BWF added.
Subsequently, BWF decided to agree on the following concrete measures:
• All BWF sanctioned tournaments in Russia and Belarus are hereby cancelled. No further BWF tournaments will be awarded to Russia or Belarus until further notice. The Russian and Belarusian national flags must not be flown, and the Russian and Belarusian national anthems must not be played, in BWF-sanctioned tournaments until further notice.
• The BWF will convey its deepest condolences and concerns to the Ukrainian Badminton Association and coordinate special support to the Ukrainian badminton community where possible.
The BWF further added that it “will continue to monitor the situation closely and will proactively consult with our partners in the international sports movement to discuss other options to potentially strengthen the measures against the governments of Russia and Belarus”.
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