Wearing skirts mandatory on badminton court 'wrong': NCW

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) A new rule that makes wearing of
skirts on court mandatory for female badminton players has not
gone down well with the National Commission for Women (NCW)
and other women groups which termed it as "wrong" and
"reflective of reactionary and patriarchal mindset".
Opposing the new rule, which Badminton World Federation
(BWF) said was to boost the sport's profile among viewers and
will come into effect from next month, NCW's acting-
chairperson Yasmin Abrar told PTI that "forcing a dress code
for making the game attractive is wrong. Sports should be
treated as sports and viewed as sports... If need be, we will
write to the BWF."
"What is important is your performance and how you
play... not what you wear," she said.
The BWF had in 2009 introduced a new dress code which
requires all female players to wear skirts "to ensure
attractive presentation of badminton".
All India Democratic Women's Association General
Secretary Sudha Sundaraman was more strident in her criticism.
"We will certainly dispatch a letter to BWF against the
rule which is a reflective of reactionary and patriarchal
mindset. The performance of the players should be important
and not what they wear. Players should be given the right to
choose what they wear," she said.
BWF's new rule is a step to glamourise badminton like
tennis but has created a furore in India with some former and
current players saying such an "unfair" move could discourage
girls from taking up the sport.