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Minister, sports people ‘vigilant’ to protect athletes from virus
Sporting talk: Indonesian National Olympic Committee chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari chats with Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique president Morinari Watanabe during their meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday
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porting talk: Indonesian National Olympic Committee chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari chats with Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique president Morinari Watanabe during their meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday. The meeting was held to discuss the development of gymnastics in Indonesia and the country’s application to host the 2032 Olympics. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali has asked sporting associations to stay vigilant to keep athletes from contracting the coronavirus, which has caused the deaths of at least 107 people and infected more than 4,500 in China alone.
Some of the athletes are taking part in tournaments abroad to secure their participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other upcoming events, like the ASEAN Paragames in the Philippines.
“If the athletes are still here then I strongly suggest them to not go. We should not put our athletes’ condition on the line,” Zainudin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
However, if any of them have already been abroad for tournaments, he said, then safety precautions would be mandatory.
The head of the Indonesian National Olympic Committee, Raja Sapta Oktohari, said he would consult the Health Ministry first before issuing recommendations for any Indonesian athletes who planned to attend any tournaments abroad.
“Our recommendation will be in line with the Health Ministry’s suggestion. So if the ministry has already said no go but the athletes insist on going, they will be going at their own risk,” he said.
The chef de mission for the ASEAN Paragames, Andi Herman, said that to date the whole contingent was in good condition and still preparing for the event.
“The athletes are still training as usual. We have also monitored their daily nutrition and vitamin intake to make sure that they will be in their prime condition,” Andi, who is also head of North Maluku Prosecutors office, said.
The 2020 ASEAN Paragames was earlier slated to be held from Jan. 18 to 24, but was postponed to March 20 to 28 over a lack of preparedness. Indonesia will deploy a contingent of 300 athletes and 250 officials to the event.
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Achmad Budiharto, said the PBSI had taken preventive action by not deploying its athletes from a Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour super 100 tournament, the Lingshui China Masters, in Lingshui, Hainan, China, from Feb. 25 to March 3.
The PBSI had planned to send its young athletes to the low-level tournament to strengthen its second-tier shuttlers by giving them a chance to play on international courts.
“Our prime concern right now is doing whatever it takes to protect our athletes from the virus and maintain their prime condition,” Achmad told The Jakarta Post.
He said the PBSI had also asked the BWF to either cancel the upcoming Badminton Asia Championship 2020 slated to be held in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, or move the event to another country.
“We are still waiting for the BWF’s response, but if the tournament is still held in Wuhan, we are not going to send our athletes. We might consider sending athletes if the event is moved to another country,” he said.
The event in Wuhan would have played an important role as the last event for all shuttlers seeking qualification points for the Tokyo Olympics.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced it will move the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 event scheduled to be held from Feb. 4 to 8 to Kazakhstan.
The event was supposed to take place at the Dongguan Tennis Center in Dongguan, China, but now will be held at the National Tennis Center in Nur-Sultan.
“The decision to move the event to a different venue was taken due to increasing travel restrictions in China at the present time and followed consultation with independent security advisors,” the ITF stated.
Indonesian Fed Cup team captain Deddy Tedjamukti said the team was trying to stay focused, reschedule and prepare the players to compete in Kazakhstan.
Indonesia will not deploy its top three players, namely Aldila Sutjiadi, Beatrice Gumulya and Jessy Rompies, as the trio will compete in the United States until March. The country’s team will be led by the junior Priska Madelyn Nugroho, who is currently competing at the junior Grand Slam Australian Open.
