BWF — Badminton World Federation

What is the BWF?

The Badminton World Federation is the international federation for badminton and para badminton. It describes itself as “recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the world governing body for badminton.”^[1]

Its rules are gathered in the BWF Statutes, which the federation describes: “The complete set of rules. This includes the BWF constitution, guidelines, policies, the code of ethics, codes of conduct, judicial procedures, laws of badminton and all technical regulations for the sport of badminton.” At the head of them stands the BWF Constitution, version 1.6, effective 27 April 2026.^[4] The constitution document itself could not be retrieved, so the federation’s legal form and registered seat could not be confirmed from it.

The federation was known as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) until 2006.^[5] Olympedia, an independent Olympic-history database, names Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand as president from 2025; ASOIF’s profile gives the same name.^[5][7]

What does the BWF govern or do?

Rules. The Laws of Badminton are chapter 4 of the Statutes. The edition in force is version 5.0 of 26 April 2025; version 6.0, and a version 2.0 of the Alternative Laws of Badminton, take effect on 4 January 2027. The Statutes also carry the Rules of AirBadminton (9 November 2024) and the General Competition Regulations (version 8.0, 27 April 2026).^[4] See equipment regulation.

Rankings and sanctioning. The Statutes include a World Ranking System (version 6.0, 26 April 2026), junior and team ranking systems, a Tournament Sanction Policy and the World Tour Regulations; see world rankings. For LA28 they carry Olympic qualifying regulations updated on 12 May 2026 and Paralympic qualifying regulations effective 10 May 2026.^[4]

Para badminton. A separate set of Para Badminton General Competition Regulations (version 7.0, 8 November 2025), Classification Regulations (5 August 2025) and World Rankings Regulations sit in the same Statutes.^[4] See Paralympic classification.

Integrity. The Statutes list Anti-Doping Regulations effective 1 January 2021 and a Code on Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions.^[4] The BWF’s anti-doping page states that “BWF and National Anti-Doping Organisations have testing programmes”.^[14] Its Statutes also carry “Participation Regulations for Players and Support Personnel with a Russian/Belarusian Passport”, and an “Administrative Process for Players and Support Personnel with a Russian Passport” (version 2.0, updated 11 November 2025).^[4]

When was the BWF founded and where is it based?

Founding. The BWF’s history page records that on 5 July 1934 “the representatives from the Badminton Associations of Canada, Denmark, England, France, Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales gathered at Bush House in London to establish a new organisation – the International Badminton Federation.”^[2] Olympedia independently gives the same date and place: the federation was “formed on 5 July 1934 in London, Great Britain, with nine founding members”.^[5]

Merger and rename. Olympedia records that “In 1981, the IBF merged with another badminton organization, the World Badminton Federation”, and that the federation took its present name “on 24 September 2006, at the Extraordinary General Meeting in Madrid”.^[5] Both dates rest on Olympedia; the BWF’s history page retrieved carries neither. Founding (1934), merger (1981) and rename (2006) are three separate dates.

Headquarters. The BWF gives its address as Unit No. 1, Level 29, Naza Tower, Platinum Park, No. 10, Persiaran KLCC, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and states that it has been in Kuala Lumpur since 2005.^[1] ASOIF’s profile gives the same address.^[7] The founding city, London, and the seat, Kuala Lumpur, are separate facts.

How is the BWF recognised?

IOC and IPC. The BWF states that it is “recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)”; no retrieved source dates either recognition.^[1] The sport’s programme history is dated separately. Olympedia records demonstration events at München 1972 and Seoul 1988, and that badminton “débuted with full-Olympic status at Barcelona 1992”; para badminton “became a Paralympic sport at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games”.^[5] See Olympic programme and IPC.

ASOIF. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations lists the “Badminton World Federation” among its 30 full members; its profile gives “Member Since: 1983”.^[6][7]

WADA. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of Code signatories carries the “Badminton World Federation (BWF)” under the heading for ASOIF members.^[8]

Multi-sport Games. The BWF’s Statutes include competition regulations for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (version 1.0, 27 April 2026) and Olympic and Paralympic regulations for LA28.^[4]

What does the BWF organise?

Grade 1 events. The BWF lists its major events as the “BWF World Championships”, the “Thomas Cup (BWF World Men's Team Championships)”, the “Uber Cup (BWF World Women's Team Championships)”, the “Sudirman Cup (BWF World Team Championships)”, the “Suhandinata Cup (BWF World Junior Team Championships)”, the “Eye Level Cups (BWF World Junior Championships)” and the “BWF World Senior Championships”.^[15]

World Championships. The BWF states that the World Championships were “First held in 1977 and originally hosted every two years”, and have “since 2003, been held every year except the year of the Summer Olympic Games”. The same page gives the 2026 edition as taking place in India, 17–23 August 2026, and names no host city.^[9]

Team championships. The Thomas Cup was first held in 1948–49 and the Uber Cup in 1956–57; the BWF’s page on the two cups describes its 2024 Finals in Chengdu, China (28 April–5 May 2024).^[10] The Sudirman Cup was first held in Jakarta in May 1989, and is held every two years; the BWF’s page lists the 2025 Finals for Xiamen, China, 27 April–4 May 2025.^[11]

World Tour. The HSBC BWF World Tour is “a circuit of 30 tournaments” across the Super 1000, 750, 500 and 300 levels, closed by the World Tour Finals in December for the top eight in each of five disciplines.^[12] The junior team and individual World Championships are scheduled for Cairo, 5–10 and 12–17 October 2026.^[13]

Who are its members?

Count. The BWF states: “BWF has 203 Members globally. Of this total, 13 are Associate Members.”^[3] Olympedia gives “204 Member Associations (including 13 Associate Members) as of January 2026”, and ASOIF’s profile an older figure of 188 national associations.^[5][7] The three figures come from different dates.

Categories. Membership has two classes, members and associate members; the BWF’s directory lists each member association with its president, general secretary and address.^[3]

Continental confederations. The BWF names five: Badminton Africa, Badminton Asia, Badminton Europe, Badminton Oceania and Badminton Pan Am.^[1] Its membership page gives the longer forms Badminton Confederation of Africa and Badminton Pan Am Confederation.^[3]

Founders. The nine founding members of 1934 were Canada, Denmark, England, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales; England, Scotland and Wales joined as separate associations.^[2][5]