PV Sindhu was unveiled as one of the ambassadors for Badminton World Federation’s ‘i am badminton’ awareness campaign on April 22, 2020. The BWF’s integrity unit was formed five years ago. This campaign is a platform in which players can express their love and respect for badminton by advocating and committing to clean and honest play.
We are proud to announce a new role call of global superstars from the #WorldTour and #Parabadminton circuit to the list of 'i am badminton' Ambassadors.#iambadminton #SportsIntegrity #badmintonhttps://t.co/15lvNA0mqi
— BWF (@bwfmedia) April 22, 2020
This effort will not only raise awareness across the entire badminton fraternity but will also encourage players to be active in shaping the integrity of the sport. The 24-year-old World Champion expressed how important it is for players to advocate clean and honest play of the sport.
She said, “This message starts with one voice. If we as ambassadors can highlight this, then I think this will spread to more players.”
She further expressed by saying, “You are playing the sport for yourself. You need to be happy about it. You have to play it very clean and that is very important to me.”
Sindhu has recently laid the foundation of her badminton academy in Chennai. Besides Sindhu, the other ambassadors include Michelle Li, Zheng Si Wei, Huang Ya Qiong, Jack Shephard, Valeska Knoblauch, Chan Ho Yuen Daniel, and Marc Zwiebler. This new batch of ambassadors will continue the great work of past and present players who have fronted the campaign since 2016. The past ambassadors included BWF President, Poul-Erik Hoyer, Saina Nehwal, Victor Axelson, Hendra Setiawan, Christinna Pedersen, Chen Long, Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
BWF President, Poul Erik Hoyer shared his view on the campaign saying that every player has a right to compete in clean and fair sport and match-fixing, match manipulation, and doping are contrary to the sport.
He also said that as ambassadors, we play an important role in safeguarding the future of badminton. He further expressed his concern for the youth and para-badminton players due to their lack of exposure on the International Circuit.
“The idea of the ‘i am badminton’ campaign is for us as role models to share our experiences with these target groups so they have a heightened level of awareness on the importance of anti-match manipulation and anti-doping,” he concluded.
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