Indonesia Forced To Resign From All England, DPR: Are They Afraid Of Corona Or The Indonesian Team?

Illustration-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, one of the Indonesian national team players at All England (Instagram @kevin_sanjaya)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission X DPR RI Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal regretted that the Indonesian team was forced to resign in the All England 2021 Tournament because of one plane with a positive case of COVID-19.

He suspects that there are indications of intent to get rid of the Indonesian team from the badminton championship.

"This raises suspicion, they are afraid of the corona virus or afraid of the Indonesian team, so they use various methods to block it because it starts to appear, 3 matches in the beginning of Indonesia won," said Illiza in his statement, Thursday, March 18.

Illiza said, this condition made the opportunity for Indonesia to make another achievement in the All England championship disappear. In fact, this championship can be an event to show the quality of Indonesian athletes that can continue to excel in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Furthermore, he asked the British government to be fair to all athletes. Because, it is known that there is a women's singles player from Turkey who is also on the same plane with the Indonesian team.

However, the player named Neslihan Yigit still gets the second half match schedule vs Akane Yamaguchi today and is scheduled to compete in the next match.

"We ask the British government to be fair to all athletes and contingents from all countries. We hope that this problem does not discourage and dampen the spirit of Indonesian badminton to continue to excel in other competitions," he said.

Previously, Indonesian Manager Ricky Soebagdja stated that the Badminton World Federation (BWF) could not do much when the Indonesian Team was forced to withdraw from All England.

The Indonesian team was forced to withdraw from All England because it was known that there were positive cases on the flight the Indonesian squad was carrying from Istanbul to Birmingham.

A number of Indonesian squad members received emails from the British Government regarding information that they had to undergo independent isolation for 10 days. This was because someone tested positive on the same flight the Indonesian squad was boarding.

"The email from the British government, the impact on our team and the impact is very, very detrimental. BWF can not do much with the problems we face today," said Indonesian manager Ricky Soebagdja.

Ricky stated that 20 of the 24 people in the Indonesian squad received an email notification from the British government regarding the mandatory 10-day self-isolation.

"There are some of us who did not get an email. The results of the email stated 10 days of isolation. Incidentally after the last time Ahsan / Hendra played, all (the Indonesian squad) had to isolate at the hotel. Once asked to the committee, BWF could not do much because they said rule from the British Government, "said Ricky.