A Scots badminton star who was handed a yellow card for taking a break from the court to deal with her period has had her penalty removed.
Kirsty Gilmour, 31, was handed a yellow card during the game with An Se-young at the All England Open in Birmingham earlier this week. Three-time Olympian asked the umpire for a break to visit the bathroom after winning the second set.
But after running over an allocated two minutes, she was disciplined for “delaying play”. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has now overturned the card, stating the officials wrongly applied the rules, reports the BBC.
It comes after Gilmour, from Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, called for a rule change as a result of the incident, which would allow “leniency” for those who have periods.
Gilmour asked the umpire for a break to visit the bathroom after winning the second set. She asked to leave so she could “fix the situation”, which she claims she was “reluctantly” granted.
Speaking to STV News, she said: “There’s a protocol if you need to go to the toilet, which is two minutes of the interval break. There’s a protocol if there’s a medical issue, (such as) if you cut your knee and there’s blood on the court.
“But in the ‘Venn diagram’ of toilet use and blood issues, there are no rules. They were making it up on the spot. In my view, we went with the wrong decision.
“I would just like there to be a protocol in place to ensure that athletes with periods are treated with some sort of dignity and leniency because it’s such a tough thing to manage while performing at a world-class level at the same time.
“If there’s any pushback about people using it as a tactic to delay the match, I think no person with a uterus wants to stand in front of a few thousand people and tell the umpire with a microphone that they are actively bleeding. Someone will only choose to do that in a real emergency.
“Some sort of leniency needs to be put in place in case this ever happens again.”
Kirsty went on to lose the match 21-12, 16-21, 21-8.
BWF secretary general, Thomas Lund, said the rules allowed for “a flexible, common sense application” depending on player need. He said there was no need for a change in the rules to accommodate periods.
Mr Lund added: “A yellow card was issued by the umpire for delay upon the player’s return to the field of play. Following an official review by the BWF referee team, the yellow card has since been cancelled, as the delay was caused by the umpire not immediately allowing the player to leave the field of play for the toilet break.”
Mr Lund said the BWF had an educational programme dedicated to informing players and coaches about menstruation and its impact on athletes’ performance. Several sports have made accommodations for players who have periods.
BWF rules state that three yellow cards within a year carry a $500 (£386) fine.