Eight Indonesian Badminton Players Are Involved In Match-fixing To Gambling

Badminton illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday announced the involvement of eight Indonesian badminton players in the practice of match-fixing or match-fixing for money.

In its report, BWF said that the eight players were proven to have violated regulations regarding scoring, manipulation, and gambling in badminton matches based on the results of investigations and interviews of the perpetrators.

The eight players are Hendra Tandjaya (HT), Ivandi Danang (ID), Androw Yunanto (AY), Sekartaji Putri (SP), Mia Mawarti (MM), Fadilla Afni (FA), Aditiya Dwiantoro (AD), and Agripinna Prima Rahmanto. Son (AP).

"The eight players have been temporarily suspended from January 2020 until a decision is made through a hearing process," wrote BWF in a statement reported by Antara.

According to the BWF, the eight athletes know each other well. They compete mostly on low level world tours.

The match-fixing action is mostly carried out in tournaments held in Asia until 2019.

Based on the conclusion of the BWF panel, HT has been involved in the match-fixing action with ID, who acted as an “investor” as well as a 'bookmaker' in the 2015-2017 period. HT then began to organize other players to participate in manipulating the scores and match results.

AD, FA, AY, SP, and MM each approved HT's request to manipulate the score and agreed to lose the match for the amount of money offered ranging from IDR 5 million to IDR 10 million.

In addition, a number of players also agreed to take part in betting on match results with HT.

For these violations, the panel imposed sanctions ranging from fines to a certain amount of money to a life ban.

The three players, namely HT, ID, and AY were proven to organize match-fixing practices so that they were prohibited from competing or carrying out all activities related to badminton for life.

The other five players are prohibited from competing for six to 12 years with fines ranging from US $ 7,000 (Rp. 99 million) to US $ 12,000 (Rp. 170 million). The penalty will take effect as of January 18, 2020.

However, BWF states that the eight players have the right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days from the time this decision is announced.