A post on BWF’s official Facebook page was purportedly deleted shortly after Viktor Axelsen wrote a long comment about his dissatisfaction with some aspects of the food and hospitality at Bangkok.
The since-deleted post from the BWF (Badminton World Federation) was a message from Thomas Lund, its Secretary General, addressing all the players and participants who have travelled to Thailand to make the return of badminton a success.
In the video-message, Lund said, “We assure that the platform that we are creating here in the weeks to come in Thailand and Bangkok will be a great platform to restart badminton in 2021.”
The video message is still available on the official BWF website.
Axelsen, while applauding the huge efforts made by BWF and the organisers at the same time, commented that players in the bubble system were not allowed to stand in the sun outside the hotel even for fifteen minutes in spite of wearing masks and observing social distancing. The players are also reportedly not in control of their own meal timings and are fed “dry chicken breasts” almost every meal.
He added, “Also, at this point here in Bangkok, smokers are allowed to go outside during the day to smoke while we as athletes are stuck inside? How is this consistency then?”
Axelsen, very reasonably so, does not see this as a long term solution or as a model for the tournaments in the coming months.
Though the reason behind the deletion of the post and the associated comment by BWF cannot be ascertained at this point, it has certainly raised some eyebrows, including Axelsen’s.
UPDATE:
BWF has reached out to Axelsen regarding the issue and his concerns are “being addressed.” He appreciated the prompt actions from BWF.
