Badminton Official Banned for Life and Fined for Misuse of Funds

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has handed down a lifetime ban and a hefty fine to Mauritian former council member Raj Gaya after a hearing revealed alleged misuse of funds, including money intended for an Olympic athlete.

The BWF announced on Wednesday that Gaya had been fined $50,000 by its ethics hearing panel following an investigation that began in June of last year. The charges against Gaya included diverting grants and funding meant for the Mauritius Badminton Association (MBA) into personal bank accounts for his own benefit. He was also accused of submitting forged accounting documents and inflating expenses.

Furthermore, the ethics hearing panel looked into claims that money allocated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) to assist players in qualifying for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics had been misappropriated. The BCA had provided $21,485 to the MBA, with $19,150 earmarked for Gaya to distribute to players. However, it was revealed that only a fraction of that amount reached Mauritian player Kate Foo Kune, who stated that she had to repeatedly request the funds from Gaya.

In response to the findings, the panel ordered $5,000 of Gaya’s fine to be paid to Foo Kune, a multiple African women’s singles champion who represented Mauritius at the 2016 Olympics as the flag bearer. Gaya, who had been involved with the BWF, BCA, and MBA since 1999, ceased cooperating with the investigation before ultimately being banned for life.

This latest scandal comes on the heels of the BWF’s decision to ban two Malaysian players for 15 and 20 years due to betting and match-fixing offenses. The BWF continues to crack down on misconduct within the sport, sending a clear message that integrity and transparency are paramount in badminton.