Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary-general Achmad Budiharto was one of those who regretted PB Djarum’s decision to stop its general audition, pointing out that the PBSI does not have the capacity to run a development program from early age.
meeting between badminton club PB Djarum and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), facilitated by the Youth and Sports Ministry has resulted in the club continuing its talent audition but under a new name.
The audition program will be changed from the 2019 PB Djarum Badminton Scholarship General Audition to the Badminton Scholarship General Audition. The ongoing audition will start to use the new name immediately in the last three cities that are slated to be visited this year, Surakarta and Kudus in Central Java and Surabaya in East Java.
Reciprocally, the KPAI also agreed to revoke its July 29 letter that demanded PB Djarum halt its audition as it suspected the children participating in the audition were being exploited through cigarette promotion, referring to the Djarum brand name.
Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said the general audition had a pivotal role in discovering new talent in badminton and therefore it needed to go ahead.
“After this, we expect PB Djarum to conduct an internal review so they can come up with a thorough strategy,” he said.
Lius Pongoh of PB Djarum acknowledged that further discussion was essential.
“For 2020, we will consolidate first to decide what will happen. We will fix [the problems] one by one,” Lius, a former top Indonesian shuttler, said without further elaboration.
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