Referees
Role
The referee is overall in charge of the tournament ensuring that the tournament is conducted in accordance with the Laws of Badminton, the rules and regulations of the BWF and any other regulations pertinent to the specific tournament.
The referee ensures that the players are given facilities (including practice facilities) and playing conditions of an appropriate standard and safety, approval of the programme of play and practice schedule, ensuring the transport setup will meet the needs of the events and the overall monitoring of matters related to the fair and proper conduct the tournament for the players.
The referee shall also ensure that there is an adequate panel of technical officials of requisite ability and appropriate international representation.
Levels
The BWF has one level of referees – BWF Referees.
Referee Assignments
The BWF appoints referees for the following:
- Olympic Games
- Youth Olympic Games
- BWF World Championships
- Thomas Cup (BWF World Men’s Team Championships)
- Uber Cup (BWF World Women’s Team Championships)
- Sudirman Cup (BWF World Team Championships)
- Suhandinata Cup (BWF World Junior Team Championships)
- Eye Level Cups (BWF World Junior Championships)
- BWF World Senior Championships
- Grade 2 – Level 1 Tournaments (HSBC BWF World Tour Finals).
- Grade 2 – Level 2 (HSBC BWF World Tour – Super 1000)
- Grade 2 – Level 3 (HSBC BWF World Tour – Super 750)
- Grade 2 – Level 4 (HSBC BWF World Tour – Super 500)
- Grade 2 – Level 5 (HSBC BWF World Tour – Super 300)
- Grade 2 – Level 6 (BWF Tour – Super 100)
The host country appoints referees for Grade 3 Continental Level tournaments (International Challenge, International Series and Future Series).
BWF appoints referees to multi-sport games upon request by the host organiser.
Referee Training and Assessment
National Badminton Associations train, develop and assess referees to the highest national level for their top national tournaments. Referees who are at a sufficient level and experience may then be assessed to become accredited or certificated at the continent level.
Training and development opportunities and assessment are provided at the continental level. The BWF and/or Continental Confederations run referee training courses and seminars to ensure referees have the requisite knowledge to officiate at the highest international levels.
BWF Referee Assessors are responsible for the assessment of referees to be upgraded to the BWF Referee level, the appraisals of current BWF Referees, as well as helping lead the respective education and mentoring programmes of these referees.
Resources and Downloads
The following additional resources can be downloaded from the drop-down icon above:
- Draw Management Document for BWF Referees
- Instructions to Referees
- Role of the Referee in the Doping Control Process
- BWF Referee Report Template
- BWF Incident Report Form
- BWF Referees
- Referees’ Assessment Panel
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Canada
Jeff Bell
Retires: 2024
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India
Girish Natu
Retires: 2029
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Finland
Ilkka Vainio
Retires: 2031
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Mauritius
Diraj Gooneadry
Retires: 2034
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Bahrain
Jayashree Sasisekharan Nair
Retires: 2035
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Sri Lanka
Rohana de Silva
Retires: 2036
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Spain
Carmen Martinez
Retires: 2039
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Australia
Jane Wheatley
Retires: 2025
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Chinese Taipei
David Chang
Retires: 2025