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Indonesia's Suhandinata: If Elected BWF President, My Top Priority Is to Keep Badminton in Olympics |
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Badminton - 04 Jan 2013 - Indonesia’s Justian Suhandinata, a candidate for the presidency of the Badminton World Federation at elections scheduled for May, has said that, if elected, his top priority will be to ensure that the sport retains its Olympic status, after Indonesian players were among several involved in a match-throwing scandal at last year’s games in London.
Suhandinata claims to have already received strong support for his candidacy from major badminton countries, including China, India and Japan, at the elections, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur.
He said: “We need to increase prize money and organize more tournaments. We also need to have large-scale promotion where the sport is still unpopular, especially in Africa and North America.”
Meanwhile, Indonesian badminton players are to receive a pay hike through a more favourable sharing out of sponsorship revenues, but in return to must submit to a stricter disciplinary regime imposed by Gita Wirjawan, the newly appointed president of the PBSI, the Indonesian Badminton Association.
In November, the PBSI, the Indonesian badminton association, lifted a ban on a women’s doubles pair who were among eight players sensationally kicked out of the London Olympics for ‘throwing’ matches.
Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were reinstated after serving a three-match ban, revised downwards from the original four months.
The pair were expelled from the Olympics after the BWF concluded that they, two pairs of players from South Korea and one pair from China had attempted to throw matches at Wembley Arena in order to avoid meeting more difficult opponents later in the competition.
While China accepted the decision against its players, both Indonesia and Korea initially lodged appeals with the BWF. However, Indonesia later withdrew its appeal, while Korea's was rejected.
Sportcal |
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