Following the latest Government restrictions, we are extremely disappointed for our badminton family to learn that the rule of six measure will no longer apply for indoor sports in Tier 2 areas.
Badminton England’s Chief Executive, Adrian Christy, spoke with Sport England and the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) on Wednesday evening, to clarify the impact of the new regulations on indoor sport.
The outcome means that the local restrictions in place for Tier 3 areas will be the same for Tier 2 areas with immediate effect. For organised badminton, this means that adult badminton can only be played within the same household. Until the guidance changes, this will also mean that club nights, competition and league play are no longer permitted in these areas.
Throughout the pandemic we have balanced the need to work in line with Government guidelines whilst protecting the sport, those that play it and ourselves as the national governing body.
We will do so again but feel that this is short-sighted as it will have a devastating effect on grassroots sport, people’s health and wellbeing as well as further impacting Badminton England.
In line with the latest Government guidance and the introduction of the three local COVID alert levels, we advise the following steps before play:
- Check your local COVID alert level here
- Check any additional advice/restrictions put in place by your local authority – find local council
- Check with venue before playing
Tier 1 (Medium)
- Play can continue in line with our current guidance
Tiers 2 (High) and 3 (Very high)
The Government has mandated the following restrictions for the playing of indoor sport in Tiers 2 and 3:
- Organised sport amongst adults (18 and over) is not permitted – the rule of six no longer applies in these areas. Therefore the following types of activity cannot take place:
- Club night/matches
- No Strings Badminton
- Any form of competition, including league matches
- Group coaching (more than one person)
The following are permitted:
- Adults – household only playing on a court
- Juniors/disability activity – in line with our current guidance
- 1-1 coaching
We will continue to do all that we can to keep our sport open, our players and clubs active and our governing body solvent.
Please take a look at our local lockdown page here for further guidance.
