For the attention of the competitor!

A few things to help you get started, register and compete in general

Excerpts are also available on issues that have raised questions during the spring, or where it was noticeable that questions were not asked, although they might have been worth asking to avoid ambiguity. A good address for all questions and reports of errors relating to the competitions is kilpailut@sulkapallo.fi

The basic reading package for competitors is as well the SSuL Competition Rules, (coming also in Engglish in the near future) which all organizers and Referees must follow. When the same rules are followed by all parties, things tend to get sorted out, if they get unsorted at all. It makes life easier when things are thought out.

In addition, the player is subject to at least the following rules, the content of which it is wise to be aware of, in practice at least reading them once and every time they are updated.

Rules of the game
Player Code of Conduct
Representation rules
Disciplinary rules
Classification and ranking rules

In addition to the above, there are some less frequently needed but necessary: Elite Cometition Rules, Series Competition Rules, Junior Competition Rules and Senior competition Rules, which complement the Competition Rules. The Team Competition Rules are intended for the organisation of regional team competitions organised by clubs.

There is also a separate Coaches' and Trainers' Code of Conduct and a Technical Officials' Code of Conduct, and the rulebook also includes an Approved Balls section.

Badminton also includes an important part of Ethics, which includes Antidoping, Equality and Equal Opportunities, Match-fixing and Environmental Responsibility. More information on these can be found on the SSuL website

By purchasing a license, the licensee agrees to comply with all SSuL, Badminton Europe Confederation (BE) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) rules (General Competition regulations - GCR) and anti-doping programmes. BWF rulebook here

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Purchase of a license

Competition licenses are purchased from Suomisport. The license sale for each season starts on 1.7 and ends at the end of June of the following year, 30.6. For the season 2024-2025 the sales period is 1.7.2024 - 30.6.2025. Without a license valid at the time of the competition, the player cannot enter the competition. Each license purchaser (license holder) must be a member of a SSuL member club who has paid his/her obligations, such as the membership fee, to his/her club. For more details on how to buy a license, click here.

Entries to competitions

Competition entries takes place in Tournamentsoftware (TSW), where the competitor has registered and created an account.
Entry to SSuL sanctioned competitions can only be made in TSW (Competition Rules), not by e-mail (except for foreign players), not by SMS or even by smoke numbers.
If an entrant has system problems, the SSuL Competition Support, kilpailut@sulkapallo.fi, must be contacted without a delay, as in the case of information system problems the competition organizer is rarely if ever able to help without breaking the rules. IF there is a problem with the information systems, it is hardly ever limited to one entrant and therefore the problem must be sorted out and corrected. Without information about the problem, it cannot be fixed.

Another important thing to note when registering is that both players in a doubles pair must make an entry for the competition. If one half of the pair does not make the entry, the player of the pair who have made the entry will be treated as if he had made the entry as an open player, Competition Rule 5.5.1.

More about registering for domestic competitions here

Eligibility in general and in championships separately

Eligibility for all competitions at different levels and ages is set out in Competition Rule 6 and eligibility for championships (and draw sizes) in Competition Rules 7 - 13.

Players in Levels A, B and C may also participate (enter) in a category higher than one level, subject to the exceptions and restrictions set out in Competition Rule 6.4. Juniors may participate (enter) in one level higher than their own age group, practically without restriction, the restriction to enter two levels higher than their own age group is set out in Competition Rule 6.8.
Seniors, on the other hand, may enter a lower age group than their own, as far as courage and skill, or both, will allow.
For information on senior women's participation in men's classes, see both Competition Rule 6.6 and the Senior Competition Rules. The general eligibility of women to participate in men's classes is set out in Competition Rule 6.5
D-Level players may only enter and compete in D-rated classes.

Additional information on registration

In the TSW competition entry, it is possible to provide additional information, which the tournament organizer will see after uploading the players from TSW to the tournament application (Badminton Tournament Planner [BTP]). The additional information should at least include what Competition Rule 5.5.1 allows if the doubles pair entered by the other player of the pair does not enter the same competition for some reason.
It is quite pointless for an open entrant in doubles to make a special request for a "suitable or appropriate" pair, because open entrants will be paired according to Competition Rules 12.5.2 and 17.10, always.
In the additional information, it is useful to enter alternative categories if a category entered is not available, and it is also useful for an older senior player to enter the lowest age category in which he/she feels he/she can play and does not want to test his skills with youngsters.
When a woman plays in the men's category, if the rule allows it, she must always enter her partner in the additional information, because a woman cannot choose a woman (or even a man) from the men's list as a woman when entering the men's category.
Schedule requests can be written in although they may be difficult or even impossible to implement in larger categories.
For a two-day competition, to declare that you can only play on the second day or only until 14:00 on one day is a violation of the player code of conduct. It is a good idea for an entrant to have two days to play in a two-day competition. Remember that there may be 250 other players in the event.

Withdrawal, how to report it and the replacement player

Withdrawal from a competition up to the deadline for withdrawal announced by the competition organizer, very often the same as the last day for entries, can easily be made in TSW, as can the entry. It is therefore possible and advisable to enter a competition well in advance for a number of reasons, as withdrawals are possible and easy at least until the last day of registration.
If for any reason you have to withdraw after that given deadline, it is always best to do so as soon as you know you will not be able to compete. ALWAYS in writing, either by email or SMS (or WhatsApp), so that there is a record of it somewhere. Sometimes these might be a bit of a disagreement, that's why.
A player may withdraw from only one (or more) discipline before the competition and still play the others (or only one) according to Competition Rule 20.3. If you are entered in more than one category in the same discipline, the withdrawal from a discipline after the entry deadline applies to all categories.

In doubles, a player who replaces a withdrawn player must report to the Referee of the competition by 20:00 on the day before the competition, regardless of the day on which the class is played (Competition Rule 20.4).
The substitute must meet the requirements of Competition Rule 20.1.

Fees

The club of the player entering the competition is obliged to pay the player's entry fees as invoiced by the competition organizer, once the provisions of Competition Rule 5.8. have been fulfilled. In practice, the situation of the first published draw will be the one used by the organizer as the basis for the invoice. Changes to this can only be caused by the correction of an error made by the organizer, not, for example, by substitutes replacing a player who has withdrawn or a player withdrawing from the competition after the draw.

Feedback and ideas kilpailut@sulkapallo.fi

Whole text as a .pdf document (162 kt)