BWF names PV Sindhu as 'i am badminton' campaign ambassador

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday named World Champion PV Sindhu as one of the ambassadors for its 'i am badminton' awareness campaign.

The campaign provides a platform for which players are able to express their love and respect for badminton by advocating and committing to clean and honest play.

The 24-year-old shuttler said playing clean and honest is very important in any sport.

"This message starts with one voice. If we as ambassadors can highlight this, then I think this will spread to more players. You are playing the sport for yourself. You need to be happy about it. You have to play it very clean and that is very important to me," she said.

It has been five years since BWF's Integrity Unit was formed and this time the campaign has been at the forefront of the governing body's efforts to communicate its approach to integrity.

Besides Sindhu, other ambassadors include Canada's Michelle Li, Chinese duo of Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong, England's Jack Shephard, Germany's Valeska Knoblauch, Hong Kong's Chan Ho Yuen and Germany's Marc Zwiebler who is in Athletes' Commission Chair.

"The new batch of ambassadors will continue the great work of a number of elite players, past and present, who have fronted the campaign since 2016," the BWF said in a statement.

The BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen said: "As an ambassador, we all play an important role in safeguarding the future of badminton. Our youth and Para badminton players are perceived to be at greater risk of match mpulation and doping due to their lack of exposure on the international circuit."

"The idea of the 'i am badminton' campaign is for us as role models to share our experiences with these target groups so they have a heightened level of awareness on the importance of anti-match mpulation and anti-doping," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )