In accordance with the provisions of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), the Indonesian team was then required to undergo 10 days of self-isolation.
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KELVIN HIANUSA / ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH
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ZAC GOODWIN/PA VIA AP
A general view of play during day two of the All England Open Badminton Championships at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England, Thursday March 18, 2021.
The withdrawal of the Indonesian badminton team from the All England Open is a valuable lesson. Corrective steps are needed so that the incident will not be repeated again in the future.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Various parties, both the organizing committee, the Badminton World Federation (BWF), and the authorities in the country, have been advised to carry out a thorough evaluation of the incident that forced the Indonesian team to withdraw from the All England 2021. Without remedial efforts, the incident could set a bad precedent for organizing sports activities during the pandemic.
"They [the All England committee] should have told the participants to come 10 days before the championship. The goal is to minimize the risk of failing to appear due to being on the same airplane as a passenger who tested positive for Covid-19. Incidentally, this only happened to [representatives] Indonesia. What if that happened to all badminton powerhouses? The All England could break up,” Asian Badminton Confederation (BAC) president Anton Aditya Subowo said when contacted on Friday (19/3/2021).
The Indonesian badminton players had to withdraw from the All England 2021 because a passenger on their flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Birmingham, England tested positive for COVID-19, the BWF said on Wednesday. In accordance with the provisions of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), the Indonesian team was then required to undergo 10 days of self-isolation.
TANGKAPAN LAYAR INSTAGRAM
The statement by Marcus Gideon, an Indonesian badminton mixed doubles player, who was disappointed by the attitude of BWF to force the Indonesian team to withdraw from the All England 2021 event.
Similar obligations, as confirmed by BWF, Thursday night, have also been undertaken by Neslihan Yigit, a Turkish athlete who shared the same plane as the Indonesian team.
"All Indonesian players and Yigit are required to undergo self-isolation. Badminton England has gone to great lengths to get them exempted. However, this is not possible because of the regulations of the British government,” said the official BWF statement.
Even so, said Anton, the All England and BWF committees should reduce the risks of participants failing to appear as a result of complying with the prevailing Covid-19 protocols. This measure, for example, was taken by the BAC and local committees when holding three consecutive tournaments in Thailand. The participants were required to arrive at least a week before the tournament.
So, participants were still able to take part in the tournament even if they were required to self-isolate when they arrived in the country. "BWF rules can be improved and modified. The regulation of the host country matters most. However, the risks of not being able to play due to regulations must be minimized, even eliminated,” he said.
Tournament participants, particularly Indonesia, also need to make an evaluation in order to prevent a similar incident from recurring. The evaluation includes a thorough study on health protocols in the destination country and the use of a charter plane to minimize the risk of contracting Covid-19 on the flight.
Charter plane
The Indonesian team used charter planes when they took part in a competition in Thailand in early 2021. “Charter planes are the best way. Another option is that the team must know very well the regulations of the destination country so that they can well arrange the arrival schedule. So, they will have time, if they are required to self-isolate, like yesterday’s incident," national sports observer Djoko Pekik Irianto said.
One of the mitigation measures is to rent an airplane to carry the team.
Responding to this incident, the chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Agung Firman Sampurna, promised to carry out mitigation measures so that a similar incident would not happen again. One of the mitigation measures is to rent an airplane to carry the team.
However, this option is not easy because it has cost implications. For example, when flying to Thailand, the PBSI spent around Rp 460 million to rent an airplane. This amount is Rp 60 million more expensive than using a commercial airplane.
"That’s why a regular commercial flight was chosen [to All England]. We don\'t want to waste the money. If the situation was still like in Thailand, when the team had not yet been vaccinated, we might have chosen to charter an airplane too,” said the PBSI’s head of public relations and media, Broto Happy.
Meanwhile, from Birmingham, it was reported that the Indonesian team wanted to return to Indonesia immediately without having to undergo 10 days of isolation. They have accepted the decision that they could not continue their appearance at the All England 2021.
Kompas
Manager of the Indonesian badminton team Ricky Soebagdja.
"Athletes have asked to go home as soon as possible in preparation for events before the Olympics. That was the only request. When we return, we also have to go through quarantine again. That is a burden for athletes,” said the manager of the Indonesian badminton team Ricky Soebagdja in a virtual press conference with the Indonesian Ambassador to England Desra Percaya.
Ricky hoped that the BWF would not include the points from All England in the criteria for the qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. "The points [from the All England] should not be valid," said the former badminton player.
Desra has proposed the UK government that the Indonesian team does not have to wait until March 23 to return home. The proposal has been verbally approved by the director of the Southeast Asia department of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Sarah Cook and NHS. "I am pursuing a written guarantee. So, they will not be prevented when they leave the hotel because there is no written statement,” he said.
KEMENTERIAN LUAR NEGERI RI
Indonesian Ambassador to England Desra Percaya.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Commission X of the House of Representatives, Syaiful Huda, said the All England incident set a bad precedent for sports. "We will soon [hold] a meeting so we know what to do with the incident. Was there any negligence of the local committee involved or did the PBSI also make a mistake," he said.
(This article was translated byHendarsyah Tarmizi).
