PP Perbasi Relieved WADA Sanctions Will Be Revoked Next Month

JAKARTA - The Central Board of the All-Indonesian Basketball Association (PP Perbasi) is relieved that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) plan to lift sanctions for Indonesia next month.

If the sanctions are lifted, Indonesia will automatically become the host for international events again. This brings relief to the motherland of basketball, which will host the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup on July 12-24.

"This is very comforting news. It reduces our worries in running our events at Perbasi. Thank you to Mr. Menpora and the team who have worked hard to restore WADA sanctions," explained Secretary General PP Perbasi Nirmala Dewi in an official statement obtained by VOI.

Indonesia was sanctioned by WADA on October 7, 2021 with a duration of one year. This sanction prevented Indonesia from flying its flag in the international arena.

The basis for the punishment used by WADA was that the Indonesian Anti-Doping Agency (LADI) was deemed not to have complied with its obligations. The non-compliance in question is a non-compliance in carrying out effective testing for each athlete in all sports.

"We hope that WADA's sanctions can be a valuable lesson that cannot be repeated again with professional work and good communication between LADI and WADA. As a sport, we are ready for whatever is needed by LADI in accordance with the MoU that we agreed before," said Nirmala. .

The release of WADA's sanctions against LADI is faster than the initial sanctions that have been in effect for one year since they were imposed on October 7, 2021.

To speed up the lifting of the sentence from WADA, the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports formed the WADA Sanctions Acceleration Task Force. This team is chaired by Raja Sapta Oktohari who is the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI).

Information regarding the lifting of this sanction was initially conveyed by WADA Director General Oliver Niggli to Raja Sapta Oktohari via message on WhatsApp on Thursday, January 13.

WADA then sent a formal letter the day after. The letter was signed by Head Compliance Manager Oliver Simonelli.