Saina Nehwal slams All England organisers: Tourney went on amid coronavirus scare only for financial reasons

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Wednesday slammed All England Open 2020 organisers for going ahead with the tournament despite the outbreak of novel coronavirus.

Saina Nehwal said the All England organisers did not care about players welfare and feelings’ and hosted the premier badminton tournament only for financial reasons’.

While some of the biggest sporting tournaments across the globe were either postponed or suspended or played behind closed doors, All England was held under normal circumstances’ in Birmingham, UK. The Badminton World Federation announced during the high-profile tournament that it suspended the upcoming tournaments on the tour.

Only thing I can think of is that rather than the players welfare n feelings , financial reasons were given more importance. Otherwise there was no other reason for the #AllEnglandOpen2020 to go on last week (sic), Saina Nehwal wrote on Twitter.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Saina Nehwal’s husband, Parupalli Kashyap said the players were under pressure to participate in All England Open despite the global travel restrictions due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Parupalli Kashyap had raised the issue of India players’ return to the



country amid new travel restrictions that were imposed by the Indian government last week.

Notably, several players, including Indian stars, took part in All England Open which came at a crucial time in the Olympic qualification period.

Exactly .. just can’t understand how it took place and how we all were under pressure to play the event, Parupalli Kashyap wrote.

Danish badminton player Mads Cornard-Petersen raised the issue on Twitter with a scathing post.

With the world closing down due to the corona virus I get worried and ashamed that All England was played under completely normal standards. It can take up to 14 days before you feel that you are sick. Can’t help to be a little nervous :( Terrible decision, he said.

Notably, Indian shuttlers were in a state of confusion in the lead up to their return from Birmingham due to Indian government’s new travel restrictions last week.

The Health Ministry last week had issued an advisory related to COVID-19, saying "All incoming travelers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain & Germany after 15th February 2020 shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days".