Badminton World Federation cancels Kirsty Gilmour Yellow Card to cope with the period

The Director of Badminton canceled a yellow card shown in Kirsty Gilmour after being penalized for leaving the court to cope with its period during a match.

The triple Olympian Gilmour had called for rules after being disciplined during his simple female confrontation with the world number one and a young at the Yonex All England Open.

The 31 -year -old man of Bellshill in northern Lanarkshire, said that she had her period a week earlier and asked the referee a bathroom break after winning the second set to “repair the situation”, which, according to her, was “reluctantly” granted.

When he returned to court, he was then shown a yellow card by the referee for “delaying the game” after failing to return in the two minutes allocated.

Gilmour told STV earlier this week that the WORLD badminton federation should introduce rules to ensure that no other player faces a similar situation while monthly in the future.

The BWF has now canceled the yellow card, but claims that the rules have been incorrectly applied by match officials at the time and that there is no new regulations.

BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said: “The World Badminton Federation (BWF) can confirm details on the incident on the field and yellow card given to Kirsty Gilmour in Scotland at the Yonex All England 2025 badminton championships.

“The laws of the badminton in fact allow players to leave the playground for a toilet break at the two -minute interval between the games.

“Unfortunately, the arbitrator did not immediately allow Kirsty Gilmour to leave the court but kept the player in the court during the interval while calling the arbitrator.

“When the arbitrator arrived in the court and was informed of the situation, he referred to law 16.5.2, and Kirsty then left the ground to go to the toilet about a minute in the two -minute interval.

“A yellow card was issued by the referee for delay in the player’s return to the playground. Following an official exam by the BWF referees team, the yellow card has since been canceled, because the delay was caused by the referee who did not immediately allow the player to leave the playground for the toilet break.

“As such, no laws or regulations should be modified, according to Kirsty’s suggestion in the media. Law 16.5.2 allows an application of flexible common sense of the regulation to cover a variety of needs of the actors.

“The BWF has an official partnership with Simply Sport Foundation, an Indian NGO empowering girls and women in the India sports ecosystem.

“They have a pioneer program, periods simply, which aim to educate athletes and coaches on menstruation and its impact on the performance of female athletes.

“This is a key concentration area for BWF when we seek to strengthen our inclusion and backup policies in sport.”

Addressing STV before the BWF’s decision to overthrow the punishment, Gilmour was clear that she thought that a specific protocol should be set up for periods.

“There is a protocol if you need to go to the toilet, which represents two minutes of the interval break,” she said. “There is a protocol if there is a medical problem, (like) if you cut your knee and there is blood on the ground.

“But in the” Venn diagram “of the use of toilets and blood problems, there are no rules. They invented themselves on site. In my opinion, we made the wrong decision.

“I would like there to be a protocol in place to ensure that athletes with rules are treated with a kind of dignity and leniency, because it is such a difficult thing to manage while happening at a world class level at the same time.

“If there is a decline on the people who use it as a tactic to delay the match, I think that no person with a uterus wants to stand in front of a few thousand people and tell the referee with a microphone that they are actively bleeding. Someone will only choose to do so in an emergency.

“A kind of leniency must be put in place in case this happens.”

Gilmour said that she hoped that such incidents do not discourage girls who get into sport.

She added: “There are so many positive changes in women’s sport, such as the introduction of non -compulsory white shorts. These are the little things that make such a difference.

“Bringing women in a position of power and authority in sports organizations, bringing young girls and women into sport … I hope it’s a good cycle.”