Agrippina is among eight Indonesian shuttlers who received various harsh sanctions, from six- to 12-year suspensions to life bans, for breaching the world governing body’s regulations related to match-fixing, match manipulation and/or betting on badminton, according to the federation on bwfbadminton.com on Friday.

The bans and suspensions are believed to be the first to have been imposed on Indonesian shuttlers.

Three of them, namely Hendra Tandjaya, Ivandi Danang and Androw Yunanto, have been banned from badminton-related activities for life. Meanwhile, Sekartaji Putri, Mia Mawarti, Fadilla Afni, Aditiya Dwiantoro and Agripinna have been suspended for between six and 12 years and fined between US$3,000-$12,000 each.

The suspensions are deemed effective from Jan. 18, 2020, the date on which the provisional suspensions were issued.

As per the judicial procedures, the athletes have the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of the notice of the reasoned decision, which was handed down on Dec. 22, 2020.

Agrippina received the six-year suspension and a $3,000 in fine. The sanctions arose from two charges: failing to report an approach from Hendra to manipulate a men’s doubles match at the Vietnam Open 2017, which he rejected; and, being involved in betting activities on badminton. In response, Agrippina, said he planned to appeal the sanctions.

“I just communicated with the PBSI [the Indonesian Badminton Association] earlier today, and I’ve told them that I want to appeal all the sanctions,” Agrippina said in a video that he posted on his YouTube channel, Agrippina and Friends, on Friday.

In the video, Agrippina, former member of the Indonesian national squad, admitted that he was approached by Hendra to fix a match, which he rejected.

“I was considered to have violated the BWF’s regulations because I did not report the approach,” said Agrippina, who was a national player at least until 2013.

Prior to the approach for the illicit action, Agrippina said he had previously met Hendra in an international match, in which the latter requested his mobile phone number. Later, they both continued to communicate, including through text messages.

“I thought it was just a regular thing when someone asks you for a phone number. I did not think that it could go this far,” he said, referring to the BWF’s investigation into the case, which involved probing text message exchanges between Agrippina and Hendra.

Agrippina, son of former player Sigit Pamungkas, did not address the betting activity charge on his video.

Meanwhile, the PBSI confirmed the eight shuttlers were not members of the current Indonesian national team.

The association further said the banned and suspended athletes were not members of the national squad when the fixed matches were played between 2015 and 2017.

“The PBSI condemns those disgraceful actions that have tainted the noble values of sport, such as sportsmanship, fair play, respect, honesty and fairness, which all athletes must abide by,” said PBSI spokesman Broto Happy.

Regarding Agrippina’s plan to appeal, Broto said the association would conduct an internal meeting. “[The bans and suspensions] of the eight Indonesian shuttlers are clearly a hard lesson for us all,” Broto told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, adding that a PBSI official, Rahmat Setiawan, assisted the eight athletes during the ethics hearing in Malaysia.

Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S. Dewa Broto denounced the disgraced athletes for undermining sportsmanship and fair play by breaching the BWF’s regulations.