 | |
| Abbreviation | BWF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 5 July 1934; 91 years ago (1934-07-05) |
| Founded at | Cheltenham, England |
| Type | Sports federation |
| Headquarters | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Membership | 202 member associations |
President | KhunyingPatama Leeswadtrakul |
| Revenue | US$6.9 million[1] (2023) |
| Expenses | US$28.27 million[1] (2019) |
| Website | bwfbadminton |
TheBadminton World Federation, akaBWF, is the internationalgoverning body for the sport ofbadminton approved by theInternational Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934, as theInternational Badminton Federation with nine member nations: Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. In 1981, the IBF merged with theWorld Badminton Federation, and on 24 September 2006, at the Extraordinary General Meeting inMadrid, the name of the organization was changed to Badminton World Federation.[2]
When the BWF was founded, its head office was located inCheltenham, UK. It was then relocated toKuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 1, 2005.[3]KhunyingPatama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand is the current president.[4] The BWF has 202 member associations around the world, organized into five continental confederations.[5]
The BWF works in co-operation with regional governing bodies to promote and develop the sport of badminton around the world, they are:[6]
| Region | Confederation | Members | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | Badminton Asia (BA) | 45 | |
| Europe | Badminton Europe (BE) | 53 | |
| Americas | Badminton Pan America (BPA) | 38 | |
| Africa | Badminton Africa | 49 | |
| Oceania | Badminton Oceania (BO) | 17 | |
| Total | 202 | ||
Below is the list of presidents since 1934:[7]
| No. | Years | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1934–1955 | George Alan Thomas |  United Kingdom |
| 2 | 1955–1957 | John Plunkett-Dillon |  Ireland |
| 3 | 1957–1959 | BrigadierBruce Hay | United Kingdom |
| 4 | 1959–1961 | A. C. J. van Vossen |  Netherlands |
| 5 | 1961–1963 | John McCallum | Ireland |
| 6 | 1963–1965 | Nils Peder Kristensen |  Denmark |
| 7 | 1965–1969 | David Bloomer | United Kingdom |
| 8 | 1969–1971 | Humphrey Chilton | United Kingdom |
| 9 | 1971–1974 | Ferry Sonneville |  Indonesia |
| 10 | 1974–1976 | Stuart Wyatt | United Kingdom |
| 11 | 1976–1981 | Stellan Mohlin |  Sweden |
| 12 | 1981–1984 | Craig Reedie | United Kingdom |
| 13 | 1984–1986 | Poul-Erik Nielsen | Denmark |
| 14 | 1986–1990 | Ian Palmer |  New Zealand |
| 15 | 1990–1993 | Arthur Jones | United Kingdom |
| 16 | 1993–2001 | Lu Shengrong |  China |
| 17 | 2001–2005 | Korn Dabbaransi |  Thailand |
| 18 | 2005–2013 | Kang Young-Joong |  South Korea |
| 19 | 2013–2025 | Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen | Denmark |
| 20 | 2025– | Patama Leeswadtrakul | Thailand |
The BWF World Ranking and BWF World Junior Ranking are introduced to determine the strength of the players. BWF World Ranking is used for determining the qualification for entry and seeding for the BWF-sanctioned tournament. The points awarded is based on the final results of each tournament participated for the past 52 weeks. Junior Ranking consists of players under 19 years old.
The BWF regularly organises seven major international badminton events and two events forpara-badminton:
Grade 2 tournaments, known asBWF World Tour was sanctioned into six levels with different world ranking points awarded.
Grade 3 tournaments, known as Continental Circuit, are sanctioned into three levels with different world ranking points awarded.
The BWF bestows special honours onto players, umpires, sponsors, and other individuals for their achievement in badminton or for their contributions to badminton.[9]
Over the years, the organization has had several logos. Originally it used the IBF logo. As the BWF, a new logo was adopted in 2007.[10] In 2012 it adopted a new, streamlined logo.[11]
The BWF andOctagon developed a rule that women badminton players must wear dresses or skirts "to ensure attractive presentation." It was included in the official rulebook in 2011, but was dropped before it was supposed to go into effect in 2012.[12][13]
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| National | |
