WADA Plans To Lift Sanctions For Indonesia, Eko Yuli: Athlete Satisfaction Wins And Sees The Flag Flying

Eko Yuli Irawan (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) plan to lift sanctions for Indonesia was welcomed by lifter Eko Yuli Irawan. He was happy because it meant that the Red and White flag could be raised again in sporting events.

WADA plans to lift sanctions against Indonesia early next month. This is shorter than the one year duration since it was dropped on October 7, 2021.

WADA conveyed the plan to lift the sanctions in their letter to the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) on Friday, January 14.

"The athlete's satisfaction is when he becomes a champion and gets on the podium singing the Indonesia Raya anthem while seeing the Red and White flag flying," said the owner of the four Olympic medals, quoted by Antara.

Indonesia was sanctioned for not meeting WADA standards. In a statement dated October 7, they stated that the Indonesian Anti-Doping Agency (LADI) as the program implementer failed to meet the annual target number of doping tests.

The letter contained important items, one of which was to prohibit Indonesia from flying the Red and White flag at sporting events.

In addition, there is also a prohibition for Indonesia to host regional, continental and international sports championships.

In response to the sanctions, the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora) immediately formed a team of the WADA Sanctions Acceleration Settlement Task Force.

The team is chaired by Raja Sapta Oktohari who also serves as the General Chair of the Indonesian Olympic Committee. The team's hard work was considered optimal, so WADA accelerated their sanctions against Indonesia.

“It is not easy to resolve WADA sanctions in a short time. However, the penalty should be one year. This is an extraordinary achievement," said Eko.

As a result of this sanction, Indonesia had to lose the momentum of raising the Red and White flag when it won the Thomas Cup in November last year.

Lifter Rahmat Erwin Abdullah also felt the lifter's podium without seeing the flag flying when he brought home two gold medals from the 2021 Weightlifting World Championships.