Where is our money?: Axelsen grills BWF

KUALA LUMPUR – World number one shuttler Viktor Axelsen has called out the Badminton World Federation by claiming that players have yet to receive any payment from last month’s European tour.

The tour consists of the German Open, the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships, and the Swiss Open.

The Danish player took to his Twitter account in calling out the sport’s world governing body.

“Players still haven’t received any prize money from the European tour last month. Four and half weeks and counting,” said the 28-year-old top seed.

He posted a picture of the BWF general competition rules along with his tweet, highlighting section 5.1 Regulations 27.4.2 which states “All prize money must be paid to the BWF or Continental Confederation within three weeks of the end of the tournament.

“Upon receipt, the BWF or Continental Confederation shall, without delay, remit the appropriate amounts to the members of the players concerned.”

Regulation 27.4.3 also says that “if the prize money is not received by the BWF or Continental Confederations after three weeks, an interest surcharge of 0.25% per week or any outstanding amount will be added.”

In the European tour, Axelsen emerged victorious at the All England, exited the German Open in the semi-finals, and gave a walkover to Parupalli Kashyap in the Swiss Open allowing the latter to proceed into the quarter-finals.

Axelsen was not the only one sharing their dissatisfaction at BWF. Replying to the tweet, Polish badminton player Jordan Hart also said she had not received her prize money from the 2021 French Open.

“I’m still waiting (for the prize money) from the French Open if it makes you feel better,” she said.

Players were not the only ones left waiting for the payment. Umpire Jacob Syndberg similarly said that match officials have not received their fair share of compensation for the work they put in.

“Umpires haven’t been paid for their work at All England yet,” he said.

Recently, some independent players in Malaysia have reportedly experienced difficulties when it comes to getting paid by their sponsors.

According to a source in the badminton fraternity, independent players have not received anything since the beginning of the year. – The Vibes, April 22, 2022.