Bad news for Britain’s badminton funding

The news came as a shock to many players and to all involved at Badminton England, but today UK Sport, the institution which funds the majority of the Olympic sports in the UK, has released its funding budgets for the 4-year cycle leading up to Tokyo 2020, and badminton is one of 5 sports with no funding at all. Whilst £345 million will be invested in 31 sports for the next Olympics and Paralympics, badminton will see none of that, in spite of the surprising performances from Marcus Ellis and Chris Langdrige, who brought back a bronze medal from Rio.

In a statement released by Badminton England, chief executive Adrian Christy said: “Despite the most successful Olympic Games since 2004 for GB Badminton, the decision presents a catastrophic impact on the sport and it will mean the cessation of all funding that supports the performance and operations of the GB Badminton Programme.”

Continuing, he was “staggered” by the “incomprehensible” decision to remove the sport’s funding, while players from the national team were all voicing their concerns after they heard the news.

“I’m in complete shock that after an historic medal winning Olympic Games, Badminton will no longer receive any UK Sport funding. I don’t quite understand how or why this has happened, but I do know this will impact Badminton immeasurably.” said Fontaine Chapman, England’s best women’s singles player, on her Facebook page.

Chris and Gabby Adcock, current world number 8 mixed pairing and winners of the 2015 Dubai World Superseries Finals and the 2013 Hong Kong Open were also surprised at the decision.

Speaking on Twitter, Gabby said, “Currently in shock! Can’t get my head round uk sports decision….?! First sport to medal then get completely cut?!!”

It may not be the end of the story as Christie has confirmed through a variety of sources that the decision will be appealed to Sport Resolutions (UK), but for the immediate future the outlook is bleak for the professional UK badminton players.