Club plays tit-for-tat amid eligibility brouhaha
Club plays tit-for-tat amid eligibility brouhaha
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
The club at the center of a player eligibility dispute at the National Badminton Championships here countered on Wednesday that officials were playing favorites in ignoring violations by other teams.
Mutiara Bandung crushed Elang 5-0 on the opening day's play on Tueady, but the result was disallowed on Wednesday after one of the club's doubles players, Enroe, was deemed ineligible to play for the Bandung-based club.
"Mutiara failed to provide the transfer letter confirming Enroe's move from Luvase to Mutiara," tournament referee Juniarto Suhandinata said of the decision.
Enroe formerly played for Tangkas Bogasari Jakarta, of which Juniarto is the vice chairman, but he resigned in April last year, saying he would play for little-known Luvase.
Tangkas is not among the 33 clubs participating in the tournament at the Amongrogo sports hall. A tournament for junior players is also concurrently underway at the AMP YKPN sports hall.
In another player eligibility dispute, organizers also changed AMP YKPN's 4-1 win over MKS Singaraja of Bali to a 0-5 loss.
However, the player in question, Dian Novitasari, has since been cleared to play after her club produced proof of her transfer.
Mutiara officials complain they have been singled out for punishment, arguing that several players in other clubs have unclear status.
"We hate mentioning others who have unclear status, but we have no option because we have received unfair treatment from the referee," Mutiara official Sian Sugiarto said as he held a list of about 40 players he alleged violated transfer rules.
Sian said players should be given freedom to choose the club they want to play for.
"Enroe has quit Tangkas, that's clear. To play for Mutiara should be regarded as the player's choice and that should be respected. If they question Enroe's status, why don't they apply the same (standard) to other players?"
Sian alleged that Elang fielded ineligible players Sofyan and Gunawan. "And Gunawan has already admitted his unclear status with the club."
Budi Santoso and Emma Ermawati, former national players now playing for Mutiara, questioned how the eligibility verifying committee of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) failed to determine Enroe's status.
"How could it happen? The verifying team should have informed us about Enroe's ineligibility beforehand, and then we would not have played him and had our victory canceled," Budi, a 2002 All England men's singles finalist, said.
Mudjiono, a member of the verifying team, did not deny the possibility of other ineligible players inadvertently passing the selection process.
"It could happen because some players have been registered under different names. And it is difficult for us to avoid those turning up in the tournament."
With the reversed result, Mutiara's chances of advancing from Group F to the quarterfinals are slim. Another club in the group is Putera Bengawan of Central Java, but Tadulako Palu of Central Sulawesi defaulted from the competition after an earthquake hit its area on Sunday.
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