OFFICIAL’S WHISTLE – Clothing, clothing…

One of the duties of umpires is to check the clothing of players. It has to comply with BWF clothing  regulations. In all the years of my umpiring I found out that most of the players don’t have a clue about these regulations. Sometimes the players get a T-shirt from his sponsors and they just accept it. Now it is almost the end of January. How many of players and coaches noticed the change of regulations? Today I will summarise these regulations connected with players and coaches.

By Michaela Bencova, BWF-certificated Umpire and Badzine Columnist.  Photos: rights reserved.

Nowadays, very often immediately after match point, players go and shake hands or greet with their coaches or team mates and his/her opponent has to wait Now, players can get fined for doing so. So first opponent, umpire and service judge, then the coach, team etc. In team event the team should think twice before they run on court with within point. Otherwise it will lead to a US$100 fine.

NOT CORRECT
David Obernosterer (above)
Name and country are written too small

T-shirts : here are the rules

And now let´s talk about t-shirts – if the player doesn´t follow further regulation he/she will have to pay a fine of 250 USD each time.

19. CLOTHING (General)
19.2 ….. It is not acceptable to tape over nor to pin on advertising nor in any other way to modify such clothing
Do I have to comment that? still today, I can see on t-shirts small adverts attached by safety pins.

21. DESIGNS ON PLAYERS’ CLOTHING
21.2 Abstract designs are permitted when devoid of advertising, commercial or promotional content.
22. LETTERING ON PLAYERS’ CLOTHING
22.1 ….each article of clothing may only have visible lettering …
VISIBLE MEANS ALSO READABLE – not silver or marker colors (sharp pink etc)
22.2.1 Lettering shall be in capital letters in the Roman alphabet,  and in one single colour contrasting with that of the shirt.
22.2.2 If there is a pattern on the back of the shirt, the lettering  should be on a contrasting panel.
22.2.3 In order that the player´s name be legible from a distance for spectators in the stadium and television viewers, lettering  must be a minimum height of 6 centimetres and a maximum height of 10 centimetres.

22.3 Player names
…If used, the player’s name shall include the family name (or an abbreviation thereof) and, if desired, the initials of the given name(s) or nickname and shall correspond with the name on the entry.
That means that if the family name is too long, I can´t use my first name. But still I can make my family name a little bit shorter. But still the height has to be between 6 to 10 cm

22.4 Country Name
The country name, if used, shall be either full  country name in English or Olympic approved abbreviation.

CORRECT
Carolina Marin of Spain (right)

NOT CORRECT
Wisnu from Italy (below)
The country is not written  in English

22.5 Lettering sequence and use in advertisements
22.5.1 The sequence on the shirt from top to bottom shall be player name (if present), country name (if present), and advert (if present).
A lot of players have small adverts on the back above the name – This is not allowed.

23. ADVERTISING ON PLAYERS’ CLOTHING
23.2.1 Advertisements may appear on the following locations: left sleeve, right sleeve, left shoulder, right shoulder, left collar, right collar, right chest, left chest and centre chest. Each advertisement must be 20 square centimetres or less. Other than front of shirt, only one per location; and there must be no more than five in total. National flags or emblems for the purpose of this regulation count as an advert;

NOT CORRECT
Petr Koukal (right)
too many adverts
can be used for only
for training or victory ceremony

23.3 Other Clothing
23.3.1 Each sock and each shoe may carry two advertisements of 20 square centimetres or less.
23.3.2 Each other article of clothing may carry one advertisement of 20 square centimetres or less.
SOME SOCKS HAVE THE ADVERTS AROUND IN A CIRCLE – too big.

CORRECT
Wang Xin (left)
Max. number of adverts – 5
right sleeve – company, left sleeve – company
front – 2 companies and national flag
only one per location – i.e. on each sleeve can be only one advert

23.4 Restrictions on the advertising
23.4.1 The advertisements may be the clothing manufacturer´s emblem or that of any sponsor.
23.4.2 Each advertisement shall only be of one organisation or product.
23.4.3 The advertisements shall follow the International Olympic Committee principles and shall not contain any political, religious and which is not a commercial brand, registered mark or trade mark. (e.g. I don´t have a sponsor, I am nice, etc.)

NOT CORRECT :
Dmytro Zavadsky
This expresses feelings

Some changes are prepared also from 1st January 2013 so please, check it.

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