Zaenudin Amali Emphasizes, Giving Thomas Cup Bonuses Not Because Of Public Pressure

Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - After consulting with the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, Menpora Zainudin Amali plans to give a bonus to the 2020 Thomas Cup team for bringing home the men's team badminton championship trophy to the country. However, Zaenudin emphasized that the awarding of bonuses to the 2020 Thomas Cup team had nothing to do with public pressure.

"This (gift of bonuses) is not due to public pressure because we have communicated with the Ministry of Finance, so we strictly follow the rules," said Zainudin Amali, quoted on Saturday 4 December.

Zaenudin Amali admits that he has to be careful because the bonuses are related to state finances.

“I have to be careful because this concerns state finances. I don't want to be wrong, it turns out that our rules are not clear enough (the category of giving bonuses). However, we consulted with the Ministry of Finance regarding this bonus, we finally decided that the Thomas Cup team would be given a bonus," he added.

"We also ask the public for this caution as if we don't have any attention, no appreciation. We ask for your understanding, because those who will be examined (BPK) are us at the Ministry of Youth and Sports," he explained.

Public pressure, especially from athletes and Indonesian badminton fans, emerged after the men's singles player, Jonatan Christie, via his social media Instagram, re-uploaded a photo from the official account of President Joko Widodo who visited the Indonesian Badminton Festival bubble in Bali.

In the upload on Instagram Story, Jonathan added the sentence, "Thank you, sir, for coming, but don't forget, sir..."

Not only that, the man who is familiarly called Jojo previously answered a question from one of his followers on Instagram (followers) regarding the Thomas Cup bonus.

In his upload, Jojo replied, "Oh, how do you answer this? Can you help answer?" citing the accounts of other players, including Hendra Setiawan, Mohammad Ahsan, Fajar Alfian, and Rian Ardianto.

Whereas the previous government did not promise any award to the Thomas Cup team if they managed to become champions. After all, team championships such as the Thomas Cup are not included in government regulations regarding the awarding of bonuses to athletes. However, the Indonesian badminton federation PBSI has promised bonuses for the players.