Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 18, 2020: The Badminton World Federation staged its 81st BWF Annual General Meeting and first virtual AGM webcast from Copenhagen on Saturday, July 18.
In a landmark result for the sport, the membership approved the proposal to ensure geographical and gender representation on the BWF Council by establishing a framework that guarantees global board representation and a minimum representation of each gender.
In particular, the changes to the constitution ensure at least 30 per cent of each gender on the Council and among the representatives from each continental region.
This falls in line with the recommendation of the IOC to target 30 per cent of gender representation in decision-making positions within International Federations by 2020.
The second major step forward in BWF’s governance practices was amendments to the constitution that introduces vetting processes and minimum eligibility criteria for elected officials and hearing panel members of the BWF.
BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer said: “I want to congratulate the membership for passing the landmark vote to approve the constitutional change to ensure gender equality on the BWF Council and for taking another important step to improve our governance practice by bringing in a vetting process for officials of the BWF.
“Our focus on good governance is essential for the BWF and we continue to excel in this area.
“Just recently, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations released its third review of International Federation governance - and BWF ranked third overall among 31 Summer IFs.
“This is fantastic news for badminton that we are doing very well in this area. It’s a great sign for the future of badminton and I congratulate everyone on these outstanding results.”
The BWF Membership also passed proposals to include the Chair of the Para Badminton Athletes’ Commission on Council and to limit the position of BWF President to four terms.