Indonesian Badminton Team Gets Kicked Out From All England, Moeldoko: This Will Be Evaluated By The Government

Head of Presidential Staff Office Moeldoko. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Head of the Presidential Staff Office Moeldoko said the government would conduct an evaluation after being expelled from the prestigious badminton competition, All England. The government clearly does not want a similar incident to happen again in the future.

This was conveyed by Moeldoko in the 'Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Listens' activity which was attended by hundreds of diaspora participants or Indonesian citizens in the United States.

"Things like this will be evaluated by the government. Don't let it happen again”, said Moeldoko in his written statement, Tuesday, March 23.

Furthermore, as the former chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Moeldoko admitted that he was concerned about the fate of Kevin Sanjaya and his friends who were forced not to compete in the event.

"Moreover, he said, Indonesia had several times dominated the All England event", he said.

As previously reported, the Indonesian badminton team had to withdraw from the BWF World Tour Super 1000 level tournament after 20 of the 24 members received an e-mail from the British health authority (NHS) informing that one of the passengers on the plane they were traveling from Istanbul to Birmingham tested positive COVID-19. They are required to undergo self-isolation at the hotel for 10 days from March 13-23.

The Indonesian Team had previously undergone a COVID-19 test upon arrival in Birmingham, Saturday, March 13 and all of them found negative results. However, in accordance with the UK Government's regulations regarding positive close contact tracing for COVID-19, the struggle of the Indonesian national team must stop halfway.

BWF was also considered to have failed to hold the competition because it could not anticipate unexpected events like what the Indonesian team had to experience.