Written by Badminton World Federation
TheBadminton World Federation unveiled four focuses in its Strategic Plan2016-2020which was presented to BWF members recently in China.
Launched at the Member’s Forum in Kunshan, the Plan rolledout the road map for theworld-governing body’s work over the coming four years,centred around the followingfocal points: Entertainment, Participation, Partnerships andCapacity.Key officials, including BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer, BWFSecretary General ThomasLund and various committee chairs, explained the importanceof these key elementsover the coming Olympic cycle – from Rio 2016 to Tokyo 2020 –to securing badminton’scontinued global growth and success on the ‘sportainment’frontier.
Regarding ‘Entertainment’, the need to excite, engage andenhance badminton’s globalfan base was highlighted as a critical aspect of ensuring thesport’s financial andcommercial development. Ultimately it is the revenue frombadminton’s commercialventures which has given BWF the scope to spread the sportacross all continents while,at the same time, building its tournament structure andoffering greater prize money to
athletes.
"The commercial side of our business is extremely importantand provides us with thefinancial resources to re-invest in the sport," noted BWFDeputy President GustavoSalazar Delgado, addressing the BWF Annual General Meeting aday after the Member’sForum.
‘Participation’ was also underlined as a pivotal plank inelevating badminton to greaterheights, be it in schools, clubs or recreationally. The mottoof the BWF Shuttle Timegrassroots programme – giving every child a chance to playfor life – encompasses thisperspective that badminton is a sport for all ages.
The remaining two elements – ‘Partnerships’ and ‘Capacity’ –are supporting pillarswhich help BWF grow badminton through creating and fortifyingstrategic alliances aswell as strengthening the BWF’s organisational structure atnational, regional andinternational levels. Key partnerships for BWF include thosewith its 183 member
associations; the International Olympic Committee (IOC); theInternational ParalympicCommittee (IPC); its corporate partners/sponsors; and itstournament hosts.
"The most important partnerships we have externally are withthe International OlympicCommittee and International Paralympic Committee. I ampleased to report that wehave continued to work extremely well with both the IOC andIPC through 2015 and ourstatus within the Olympic and Paralympic movement remainsstrong," said Delgado.nbsp;
"Our partnerships with you - our membership - is fundamentalto our work. I wish thankyou for the role you play in developing and promotingbadminton globally – and toacknowledge the important role which the continental confederationsplay in driving thedevelopment of badminton regionally in partnership with theBWF.
"The success of such programmes as Shuttle Time schoolsbadminton is dependent onthese partnerships and collaborations. We reached animportant milestone since the lastmeeting – Panama was the 100th member to start a nationalimplementation of ShuttleTime – so congratulations to Panama and to the other 99members who have used thistool to give every school child a chance to experience ourgame."
Meanwhile, as part of its mandate to continually enhancebadminton, BWF hasrecognised the need to develop its membership’s expertise inareas such asadministration, event management, player development andcoaching. In essence, it’s amatter of helping members to help themselves – and others inthe future. Such capacity
building will become even more important in years to come ifbadminton’s growthtrajectory is to be maintained.
The BWF also upheld the Strategic Plan 2016-2020 as an"athlete focused" road map,listing four focuses in this regard. They are: Clean Sport,Fair Play, Awareness andEducation; and Health and Well-Being.
In its quest to ensure badminton remains a clean sport – freeof corruption andmanipulation from external forces – BWF has focusedundertaken a number of initiativesto ensure the sport’s integrity.
Citing some of these, Delgado highlighted the following:
●We have strengthened our Code of Conduct on Betting,Wagering and IrregularMatch Results.
●We have implemented an Athlete Biological Passport Programmewhere selectedathletes regularly have blood and urine samples taken tomonitor their biologicalmarkers.
●We have signed an agreement with a WADA-accredited lab tobring in scientificknowledge and expertise to monitor biological passports andlab test results.
●And we have launched an awareness campaign – i am badminton– andundertaken activations in Lima at the World JuniorChampionships – and at theDubai World Superseries Finals.
"Athletes have a right to compete in fair and clean sport andwe have a responsibility toprovide the best possible environment for this. Athletes alsohave an important role toplay here – so do coaches, team managers, administrators andtechnical officials.
"Education is fundamental to ensuring the integrity of sport.As members – you all havean obligation to provide education programmes for our youthin the sport in the areas ofanti-doping and anti-match-fixing," stressed the BWF DeputyPresident, adding thatassistance should be sought from national sportsorganisations and national anti-dopingagencies.
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