Response To Critics Of Thomas Cup Bonus, Menpora: It's Not Like Shopping At A Stall

Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali/DOC Kemenpora

JAKARTA - Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainudin Amali responded to the satire that was recently uttered by a number of badminton players. This is related to the awarding of bonuses after the Indonesian team won the 2021 Thomas Cup.

Regarding the innuendo, the Minister of Youth and Sports said that giving bonuses from the government to athletes is not like shopping at a food stall where the process of spending money is so fast.

Amali asked the public to understand the bureaucracy that the government had to go through in order to realize athlete bonuses.

"I have to be careful, we don't want to spend money which will become the findings of the BPK (Financial Audit Board) at a later date," said the Minister of Youth and Sports, Saturday, December 4.

"Of course this is not like shopping at a shop, the management of the country must be careful, it must be clear. If this is personal money, I have no problem, but this is not, this is state money," he continued.

Previously, it was known that a number of badminton players who succeeded in bringing Indonesia to become the champion of the 2020 Thomas Cup, such as Jonatan Christie and Fajar Alfian, issued satire through social media regarding the bonus for winning the Thomas Cup.

The satire then went viral on social media until the Minister of Youth and Sports received public pressure to give bonuses to the 2021 Thomas Cup team. Although previously there was no promise from the government regarding bonuses in the 2020 Thomas Cup.

The fact that this has gone viral has made a number of parties regard some athletes who insinuate bonuses as being money-oriented athletes and do not respect the government. Regarding this matter, the Minister of Youth and Sports did not bother. He also will not reprimand and rather leave it to PBSI as a federation.

"(The satire) I also don't know what the symptoms are, let the media colleagues judge. Later we will explain to PBSI," said Amali.

"(For bonuses) we have to be careful, because the Kemenpora has never been WTP (Unqualified Without Exception from the BPK) for 10 years, now it is WTP, so we have to keep it right. Let PBSI take what steps (about the athlete's satire) I will talk to the chairman of PBSI," continued Amali.

Regardless of the innuendo's response, the Menpora himself ensured that there would be a bonus for the 2020 Thomas Cup team which would be given through the PBSI in the near future.