World No 2 PV Sindhu is in contention for a spot in the Badminton World Federation’s Athletes’ Commission along with nine other badminton players, reported PTI on Tuesday.
The other Indian in fray for the four available slots is men’s shuttler Nikhar Garg, ranked 374th in doubles, who, in May 2016, had started an online petition urging BWF to grant greater autonomy to independent players by giving them the chance to register directly to tournaments rather than through their associations.
The nominations closed on March 27 with six men and three women standing for the BWF Athletes’ Commission elections. Apart from Sindhu and Garg, the list also comprises two former World No 1s in men’s doubles and a former European men’s singles champion.
The others in fray are Lithuania’s Akville Stapusaityte, Ugandan Edwin Ekiring, Malaysian Koo Kien Keat, Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour, Mexico’s Luis Ramon Garrido Esquivel, German Marc Zwiebler and Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong. Three persons will be elected to replace the outgoing members, Yuhan Tan (Belgium), Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (Denmark) and Greysia Polii (Indonesia), who will complete their four-year term in May.
The rule states that at least one male and one female player must be elected. The third person will be the candidate with the next highest number of votes. Additionally, a fourth person, a female, will be elected to finish the term of Tang Yuanting. For the first time, voting by email will take place, which begins on April 26 and ends on May 24.
According to the official BWF website, the responsibilities of the Athletes’ Commission are:
- To act as the official link between the players and the BWF
- To proactively consider issues relating to players and give advice to the BWF on player related matters
- To represent the rights and interests of the players to the BWF Council to ensure the athlete opinion is heard at the highest level of governance of Badminton
- To maintain contact and good relations with the IOC Athletes’ Commission
