Outcry greets video of alleged ‘biting spirit’ act

Indonesian pencak silat gold medalist Dian Kristanto finds himself in a firestorm of controversy after  videos surfaced allegedly showing him committing unsportsmanlike behavior in his Southeast Asian Games final last Thursday.

At least three videos have been posted on YouTube of Dian’s final against Thailand’s Anothai Choopeng in the class A 45-50 kg category. Dian is seen running from his opponent’s attack and also shielding himself behind Singaporean referee Jasni Salam. In another segment, Choopeng accuses him of biting his right shoulder after a clinch.

The three videos — all posted from Vietnam — show heavily edited footage of the three-round, nine-minute bout. But they ignited condemnation in social media in Indonesia on Tuesday. Some comments on Twitter said Dian’s alleged behavior was shameful compared to the effort of Indonesia’s U-23 soccer team that lost a close final to Malaysia on Monday night.

There were also calls for him to return his gold medal.   

National pencak silat team manager Edhy Prabowo defended his athlete, who is the 2010 World Cup champion and a 2007 SEA Games gold medalist.

“I can understand why he is running. His right ligament was injured, so he ran to avoid his opponent hitting his leg,” he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.  

He said the 26-year-old decided to compete in the final against the advice of medical officials, and the public should appreciate Dian’s struggle for gold.

“Even if he lost the bout, I would have personally given him a gold medal,” Edhy said, adding that dodging an attack was not a violation of the rules.

“It’s allowed, but I’m sure if he was in a fit condition he wouldn’t have done it.”

The final was held in a 3,000-seat East Jakarta hall packed with local fans as well as those from neighboring countries. It was marred by an incident when Indonesian spectators throwing empty plastic bottles in reaction to Thai fans accusing the referee of being biased.  

“It was a hard match, my opponent is strong and I worried about my knee because my ligament was injured in 2009,” Dian said after winning 5-0.

Edhy said he did not witness any biting. “Team officials would never give an order for that behavior,” he said. He refused to consider returning the gold medal.

“They [competition officials] have no problem with the results; we never bribed the referees and judges, and what happened in the bout was according to the rules and procedures,” Edhy said. (rpt)