It was Indonesia's 14th overall title in the history of the tournament, better than China's 10 titles. The last time Indonesia held the title was in 2002.

But the celebration on stage during the trophy ceremony was subdued for Indonesia as there was no hoisting of the national flag due to the country being sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for noncompliance with drug-testing rules.

This was because the Indonesian Anti-Doping Agency (LADI) failed to submit the 2020 and 2021 doping test samples that were requested by WADA. Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali explained on Oct. 8, as quoted by kompas.com, that it was hard to collect samples because almost no sports events were held in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, Indonesia, along with Thailand and North Korea, is barred from raising the country's flag in international sporting events and not allowed to participate in bidding to host sporting events.

"We have processed the testing plan since Sept. 15. But there are still pending matters: administrative problems from 2017 that have piled up until now. So [we] are regarded as noncompliant," LADI deputy chief Rheza Maulana told The Jakarta Post on Monday without elaborating.

Zainudin, along with LADI secretary general Dessy Rosmelita, apologized to the public on Monday for the flag incident.

Zainudin said he had now formed an investigation team, led by National Olympic Committee (NOC) president Raja Sapta Oktohari and with members including representatives from LADI, several sports federations and the government.

The investigation team had to run a rapid response to avoid similar incidents in the two upcoming international badminton events, the 2021 Indonesia Open in November and the 2021 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour in December.

“It took a month to collect and organize the data from LADI as well as to arrange external lobbying [with WADA] so that the investigation team would do their best to lift the ban,” Raja said.

He said there had been no order from WADA to cancel international sport events due to be hosted by Indonesia next year, such as a MotoGP motorcycle race and Formula E electric motorsports championship.

On Sunday, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting paved the way to the team's victory with a win in the first match, followed by Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the second match and Jonatan Christie in the third match.

"I played well, even though I lost in the second game. I tried to catch up, but it was too late," said Jonatan, who scored 21-14, 18-21, 21-14 in an 82-minute match on Sunday.

Indonesia team captain Hendra Setiawan expressed his gratitude for the success. "Thank you to the players who have fought. Thank you to the coach and support team who worked together until we won," he said.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo turned to Instagram to congratulate the athletes competing in the tournament, saying "The Thomas Cup has finally returned to Indonesia after 19 years of waiting".