BWF bans two Chinese shuttlers for match-fixing, betting

BWF bans two Chinese shuttlers for match-fixing, betting

BWF's 2017 Code of Conduct calls for stringent action against those who stigmatise the game.

Two Chinese badminton players – Zhu Jun Hao and Zhang Bin Rong – have been handed bans for two years by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for breaching the 2017 BWF Code of Conduct in Relation to Betting, Wagering and Irregular Match Results.

Zhu and Zhang were involved in match-fixing and betting during international matches in March 2019.

The mixed doubles duo also fixed a match at the Orleans Masters match, according to a three-member BWF panel, headed by Sylvia Schenk, that probed the case. The panel was appointed to investigate the allegation of match-fixing and betting on March 30, 2021.

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The shuttlers had also shared inside information with an unauthorised person.

The hearing in the case concluded in July 2021, with the reasoned decisions of the BWF Independent Hearing Panel (IHP) communicated to the parties on Friday.

As per the BWF press release, Zhang Bin Rong had bet on 36 occasions at tournaments in China, Switzerland and France in 2019.

These actions violated rules that ban badminton players from placing betting on the sport.

Though, as per the Judicial Procedures, the shuttlers had the right to appeal the panel’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of the notice of the reasoned decision, they chose not to appeal.

How did the BWF snoop match-fixing allegation?

Badminton World Federation

On 20 March 2019, a sports betting monitoring company notified the BWF by email that a sports betting company noticed abnormal activity on three betting accounts regarding the mixed doubles match on 19 March 2019 at the Orleans Masters 2019 in France between Jun Hao and his partner Hua Xiao Bei against Daniel Hess and Stine Kuspert.

The said accounts were linked to Zhu Jun Hao and Zhang Bin Rong and someone named Ming Liu.

Following the report, the BWF opened an investigation into the matter.

In June, the BWF’s panel interrogated Zhu Jun Hao and Zhang Bin Rong, separately, at the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, Beijing, China, as part of the investigation.

The panel also probed their phone logs and announced them the criminals. Zhu and Zhang have been banned from all badminton activities for two years commencing 13 August 2021.