Article published by Badminton Canada on June 4, 2021
Badminton Canada will not participate in the 2021 Pan American Junior Badminton Championships in Acapulco, Mexico this July.
OTTAWA, ON (June 4, 2021) – After much discussions and deliberations with various stakeholders, and constant monitoring of the current COVID-19 situation in various parts of Canada and around the world, Badminton Canada has made the very difficult decision to not enter players in the upcoming XXIX Pan American Junior Championships being held in Acapulco, Mexico – July 15-23, 2021. This decision is due to health, safety, and quarantine concerns and challenges resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic, as all of Canada remains under some form of restriction related to COVID-19.
“In this pandemic environment, an additional layer of concern is required when travelling internationally to competitions,” said Joe Morissette, Executive Director for Badminton Canada. “Badminton Canada performed a risk assessment and, it was felt that the risk to the health and safety was too high at this time to consider competing.”
“We realize the impact these decisions have on our players,” added Anil Kaul, President of Badminton Canada. “We will do everything we can not only to support all players, coaches and clubs impacted by this decision through this difficult period, but to also provide hope and opportunity moving forward towards their international goals in the future.”
Badminton Canada did not make this decision lightly and appreciates all the hard work and effort that has gone into planning of this competition by Pan Am Badminton, the Mexico Badminton Federation, and the local host committee. We want to wish them all the success and we look forward to resuming our participation in local, national, and international competitions as soon as it is deemed safe and the COVID-19 restrictions across Canada and around the world have eased.
