The Covid-19 situation has caused Badminton England to withdraw from hosting the European Mixed Team Championships in February 2021. The pandemic has had a major impact on organisations around the world and badminton is not excluded. Consequently, the current, and projected, financial position within Badminton England has unfortunately resulted in a withdrawal.

Badminton England and Badminton Europe have been in close dialogue around the situation since it became clear there was a risk to the staging of the Championships in England, and every effort has been made to find a solution, but unfortunately it has not been possible to find a mutual agreement upon how to host the event in Milton Keynes as originally agreed.

Adrian Christy, Chief Executive of Badminton England: “It is with great disappointment that Badminton England will not be able to pursue this opportunity, not only hosting the European Mixed Team Championships, but in staging it in such an innovative way, positioned among such a huge number of people. The exposure of English badminton, European badminton and the Championships themselves was significant and is an approach that we’d love to revisit in more settled financial times. But under the current circumstances, we unfortunately see no other option than to withdraw from our bid and not host the event in 2021.

“These are truly unprecedented times and the financial impact of the coronavirus situation is creating significant challenges, operationally and financially, to Badminton England and we are having to make some tough choices about where we prioritise our financial resources that have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

“The sustainability of English badminton must be our first priority, and this includes our clubs, coaches, leagues and County Badminton Associations. We must be ready to ensure badminton in England is ready to go again when the time is right and we could not risk diluting the support desperately needed by our grass roots community by pursuing the investment necessary to host the Championships.”

Jimmy Andersen, Deputy General Secretary of Badminton Europe: “We were looking very much forward to hosting the event in Milton Keynes, and to work closely together with the experienced event staff of Badminton England. We truly appreciate the openness which we have been shown throughout the whole process, but we are now at a point where we have to look forward, and we fully understand that Badminton England is not able to commit to what they initially intended. We will now consider our next steps towards where to host this prestigious and important event, and we welcome any interest from our membership in hosting the event in February together with us.”

About the European Mixed Team Championships:

The European Mixed Team Championships is a biannual event played over 5 days in week 7 in uneven years, where Europe’s 8 best nations are competing at the event. 

2 teams (the hosting nation and the reigning champion) are directly qualified, while the remaining 6 teams are found during a qualification stage played on various venues around Europe in December 2020.

In 2021, the European Mixed Team Championships will be used as official qualification event for the 2021 Sudirman Cup, the official BWF World Mixed Team Championships.