BWF Regulations on Clothing
Many tournaments have some sort of regulation regarding acceptable clothing on their tournament entry forms, and justify it by saying that it is an BWF regulation. Just what exactly are the BWF regulations?
There is the perception that white clothing is the rule. However, most of the regulations are restrictions on advertising. In fact, most of the predominantly white T-shirts worn at OBA tournaments would be illegal by BWF regulations.
Table of Contents
The highlights of the regulations
The full regulations on clothing can be found on the BWF website. The clothing regulations only apply to what the players are wearing when they are playing, not when they are warming up. The highlights of the regulations are listed below:
Acceptable Badminton Sports Clothing
this generally means no jeans, no black-soled shoes, and no baseball caps or hats of any kind.
Color
ANY color or combination of colors are acceptable. It is recommended that doubles partners wear the same colors.
Design
Abstract designs are permitted if they are devoid of advertising, commercial or promotional content. If the design forms part of an advert, it must conform to the required dimensions.
Lettering
Lettering is allowed if it is part of an advert and conforms to the required dimensions for advertising. It is also allowed to indicate the player’s name and country. In this latter case, the recommended size of the lettering is 10 cm.
Advertising
Must be 20 square centimeters or less and no more than 3 in total in one of the following locations on a shirt only: left sleeve, right sleeve, left collar, right collar, front of shirt. Advertising is also allowed on each sock and each shoe and each other article of clothing so long as they are 20 square centimeters or less.
If the advert is contained in a band, it must not exceed 10 cm. Content of advertisements must not clash with the event sponsors or the TV broadcasters, nor may it infringe local law or be considered offensive.
