Once Again, Sandiaga Reaffirmed That The Government Handles Pandemic Affairs, And There Is No Need To Threaten MotoGP To Cancel

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno once again emphasized that the affairs of the COVID-19 pandemic are the domain of the Indonesian government. Therefore, he emphasized to anyone not to issue threats to cancel the MotoGP title.

"Menparekraf (Sandiaga Uno) in his statement emphasized that the government would not accept being threatened by certain parties who would cancel the 2022 MotoGP event at Mandalika if quarantine obligations were still enforced," said Deputy for Tourism Products and Activities Organizers of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Rizki Handayani to VOI, Tuesday, January 18. .

Rizki also said that Sandiaga had emphasized that Indonesia was a legal country that had implemented the control of the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with the best rules. In fact, Indonesia has become a best practice.

"Indonesia is focusing on dealing with the pandemic and economic policies. Therefore, the government will not accept threats from those who claim to be ready to cancel the MotoGP event because of the government's pandemic handling policy," he said.

Not only that, Rizki said, it was also conveyed that the travel bubble was a scheme that was implemented during the quarantine period. This scheme applies to MotoGP crew, riders and official organizers.

The quarantine provisions regulate MotoGP crews, racers, and officials to stay at a special hotel. All officers involved in the hotel and at the Mandalika Circuit, such as drivers, hotel administrators, cleaners, and local crews, are not allowed to physically interact with parties outside the bubble.

"So that MotoGP racers, crew and officials can still make the necessary preparations even though they are in quarantine," he said.

Rizki emphasized that this travel bubble scheme will be implemented since the arrival of all drivers, crew, and officials in Malaysia for a pre-season test before leaving for Mandalika in February 2022.

For your information, the issue of the cancellation of the Mandalika MotoGP grand prix race has surfaced in the last few days. The cause initially came from a statement by the CEO of Dorna Sport Carmelo Ezpeleta as the manager of MotoGP.

The statement was related to the quarantine regulations in each of the countries hosting the 2022 MotoGP. Ezpeleta said that the races would be canceled in countries that required long quarantines for racing teams.

"We will not accept quarantine. If we were told to quarantine for 14 days, the answer was clear: no! We will not go there!” said Ezpeleta as quoted by GPone.

The issue of the cancellation of the Mandalika grand prix received a strong response from the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno. He said the government did not accept being threatened by certain parties who were ready to cancel the 2022 MotoGP event in Mandalika.

MotoGP this season will hold as many as 21 series or the addition of two series from the previous year. The two additional series are Indonesia and Finland.

The MotoGP 2022 series will be held in Qatar on March 4-6 2022. After that it will continue to the second series in Mandalika which is scheduled to be held on March 18-20 2022.