JAKARTA - Chairman of The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) Agung Firman Sampurna expressed his disappointment over BWF's decision to force the Indonesian badminton national team to withdraw from the All England 2021 tournament in the middle of the first-round match on Wednesday.
In a press conference that took place at the BPK RI (The Audit Board of Indonesia) Building, Jakarta, Thursday, Chairman Agung confirmed that he would ask for an explanation from the NHS, which is the British health authority, as the recommendation provider to BWF to withdraw the Indonesian national team from this Super 1000 tournament.
"We will not stop fighting for our honor in the international arena. To be honest, I am very disappointed, we have made maximum preparations, at the same time implementing strict health protocols. Plus we have already administered two vaccines", said Agung.
Until now, PBSI is still coordinating with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out the details of the information from the NHS which states that 24 members of the Indonesian contingent had contact with passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 on their way from Istanbul to Birmingham.
According to Agung, this needs to be thoroughly investigated to know for sure whether the national team actually made contact, while the results of the PCR swab conducted by BWF on Saturday found that all members of the national team, both athletes, coaches, and officials, tested negative for COVID-19.
"The public must know, we cannot compete because the national team is declared to be on the same plane with another passenger who is positive for COVID. But until now we have not been told who the passenger was, who he said also interacted with 24 members of the national team. That does not make sense. There are the same Turkish players and coaches but they are still allowed to compete", Agung said.
Also, the decision came after two Indonesian representatives from the men's doubles sector, namely Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, eliminated the host representatives in the first round.
Even though it was considered odd, PBSI tried not to prejudice the final decision. He also asked the athletes of the Red and White Squad to remain enthusiastic and patient.
"I make sure the athletes there are in good health, but there must be severe shocks in their mental state because there is a sudden detrimental decision like this", he concluded.
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