India’s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has received a fee waiver from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after missing out on her participation at the All-England Championship 2026. Sindhu’s absence from the tournament was a result of the Dubai incident, where she was stranded with the cross-border missiles firing.
BWF imposes a penalty fine of $5,000 on top-ranked players who miss major level tournaments like in the case of Sindhu. But her absence from the event was a case of geopolitical tension. After her safe return back to India, Sindhu, during a recent interaction with the Sports Authority of India, revealed that she had a discussion with the BWF on waiving her fee for the tournament as she was faced with uncertainty.
“It’s a penalty of $5,000 when you miss such tournaments. I explained my situation to BWF and they agreed to waive off the penalty. They understood that you can’t do anything when you are stuck in a war situation,” she mentioned.
In previous incidents, BWF has fined players, including Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, for withdrawing their participation from the 2026 India Open held earlier this year due to concerns regarding pollution in the country.
The Olympic medallist had missed her chance to compete in the All-England Championship 2026 in Birmingham, which began on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. The Indian ace shuttler was expected to play in the opening-round match against Thailand’s Supanida Katethong, for whom she had trained hard. However, in her absence, Indian men’s shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty have led the Indian contingent at the tournament.
Sindhu travelled to Dubai to take a connecting flight on her way to Birmingham. But the day she reached Dubai, that was on March 1, the geopolitical tensions aroused in the region, causing air strikes and shut down of all operations at the airport. She had to stay back in an accommodated hotel due to safety concerns that did not allow her to travel during that period.
She, along with her team, however, did undergo the experience of a nearby explosion in the area where she was staying and had to be later shifted to a safer location. Soon after the tension in the city came to a halt, Sindhu and her team were sent back to India with the help of the Dubai Airport authorities and the Indian High Commission.
