Famous primary sponsor, Yonex has cut short its sponsorship with Karnataka Badminton Association, including private academies as well by a massive 60% due to the downturn in business deals following the global pandemic, which has ravaged countries across the globe.

The Sponsorship company revealed that zero sales were made during April and May due to the lockdown in the country. The Sunrise Sports, based in India, who is also a sole distributor of Yonex products, released a statement via mail that it had no other option than to review its terms of agreement with the association and academies.

The KBA internal sources told reporters that they aren’t the only ones affected as many state associations received similar mail from Sunrise as well.

The primary reason the sponsorship body gave was that since there will be no future badminton events in activities in the state, in the few coming months, they had to cut down the sponsorship by a certain percentage.

” following the reduction of the sponsorship, we are aware there is a vast difference. We will sit and discuss with them regarding our difficulties as there will be proper negotiations to reduce the percentage of the cut.”

Academies likewise are also facing the same dilemma as a certain percentage was reduced in their sponsorship; however, they are also making moves to manage and get the situation back under control.

As a sponsor, Yonex provides racquets, shuttles, kits to badminton grassroots, and this major decision will cause a setback in the development of the grassroots badminton, including the provision of funds for KBA’s badminton programs.

If things normalize, the sponsorship body [Yonex] might decide to go back to the full sponsorship deal percentage, but as things stand now, there is a need to review plans during this period.

Written by: Olumide Akinnifesi