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PETALING JAYA: Two-time Olympic Games men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark continues to be the voice for the players.
In a series of posts after withdrawing from the World Tour Finals, Axelsen called out the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to look after the interests of their players and also encouraged his comrades to speak up.
Axelsen is unhappy with the terms and conditions set by the BWF under their top players’ commitment rule.
Under the rule, top players are fined US$5,000 if they don’t show up for selected top tier tournaments. If they can’t play, they have to be part of the promotional events.
As a professional player, Axelsen has to fork out his own money for pulling out from the Finals in Hangzhou, China, next week. He has a foot injury but he is not going all the way to China to sit around there.
It will be the same fate for independent shuttlers like Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei if they withdraw. For all the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) players though, the federation will cover the cost of the fine.
In a facebook posting, Axelsen expressed his displeasure.
“....I’m so tired of the disconnect between players and BWF. Everything needs to go through the federation, but I’m an individual athlete with my own team, making my own decisions!,” said Axelsen in his Facebook posting.
“Some players are happy to be in the federation. That’s great, but we are some athletes who are independent!
“Many players are scared to talk publicly, which is understandable, giving the power the federations have.
“But I have a responsibility. For current players and future generations. And I’m not going to not speak my mind! And also you, the fans, deserve to know what is going on.
“Will there be any change because of my posts? Probably not, but I won’t look back in years from now and look at a career where I didn’t fight for what I think is right for the players, the fans, and our sport!
He felt that the United States’ Zhang Biewen could have been treated better.
“What has especially upset me recently is the handling of Beiwen’s case. She is struggling mentally and financially, but she has no choice but to continue playing because “mental health” is not a good enough reason to avoid the obligations for “top committed players.”
In her IG post, Beiwen stated her frustration.
“All I want is to fight for the right to having a choice to choose my own tournaments based on my mental, physical and financial capacities,” she said.
“If I don’t want to pay (the fine for withdrawing from a tournament), I have to fly there on my own expenses and participate in two days of promotional activities. We have no choice even if we are in bad shape! This is completely unreasonable.”
Axelsen added: “If we as a sport don’t take mental health seriously, then where are we heading?
“I appreciate what the work the athletes committee are doing, but I’m very sorry we have absolutely no power to change anything as the situation is now, and the only way BWF will listen is that we as players speak up.”
