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BWF Council to investigate new clothing regulations further

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has accepted a recommendation from the Women In Badminton Committee to further study on the general clothing regulations and thereby not to introduce the regulations as currently drafted regarding the mandatory use of skirts or dresses.

The mandatory ruling was initially supposed to be implemented on 1 May 2011 but after feedback fro

m various quarters, was deferred by one month to 1 June 2011.

The Women In Badminton Committee, headed by former world champion Nora Perry, said the recommendation was also based on feedback from the Athletes Commission. The Athletes Commission represents the players' interests in the BWF Council with full voting rights.

"There have been various feedbacks from many quarters and after taking into account all these comments, especially those from the Athletes Commission, it is our recommendation to Council to do further study before implementing new clothing regulations. It is still our intention to focus on a better presentation of the game, but we will like to broaden the scope to include both men and women, and the feedback will also include views from various stakeholders such as the clothing manufacturers", said Perry.

"The Committee is also pleased that the BWF Council has accepted our recommendation and we would continue to work closely with the Athletes Commission, clothing manufacturers and other stakeholders to prepare a new proposal with a broader scope to Council in December. The BWF Council met in Qingdao, China on 28 May 2011.

The clothing regulation was one of the steps taken by the BWF to raise the profile of women in Badminton. Other initiatives already in place are offering equal prize money for men and women disciplines, standardized 21-point rally system for men and women disciplines and equal male and female participation across the events offered – men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

Athletes Commission chairman Kaveh Mehrabi welcomed the Council's decision to do more work on the strategy to enhance the presentation of the game through clothing regulations before new regulations are introduced as this will give the Commission more time to engage with the players.