Games organizers waiting on doping decision for record list

JAKARTA (JP): The National Games Organizing Committee is still waiting for the National Sports Council's final decision on the drug abusers before issuing the official record-breaker lists.

The organizers' secretary-general, Eddy Widodo, told reporters yesterday that the committee had the list of record breakers but it may need revision due to six athletes being involved in doping cases.

"We are waiting for the council's decision to punish the athletes by taking away their medals. But the council is also waiting for the Antidoping Commission's results," he said.

The council's East Java chapter has urged the organizers to deliver the lists to the country's 27 provinces as soon as possible because it wants to give cash bonuses to breakers of national, regional and international records.

The chapter said Tuesday that it had sent an official letter and a representative to get the list. But it has received no response from the organizer.

"I have not received an official letter from East Java asking for the list," Eddy said, adding that he learned the information from newspapers.

"If it needs the list to hand over bonuses to record breakers, it should have sent the letter," he added.

However Eddy promised that he will deliver the letter as soon as there is a decision on the doping cases.

At the National Games last month, two female shooters, one male shooter, one male tennis player, one male judoka and one female hockey player failed doping tests.

Stimulants were found in five urine samples and beta blockers in the other.

But the controversy on the doping results and regulations remains unsolved.

It arose when the Indonesia Tennis Association received faxes from the International Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals, stating that Indonesia's former top player Benny Wijaya, who won two gold medals in the Games, was clean.

The local doping laboratory found traces of the stimulant heptaminol acefyllinate, which is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Benny's urine samples.

Another case was female shooter Inka Ferry, a double silver medalist from Yogyakarta, who admitted to using fenflouramine to treat a cold.

The substance consumed by Inka was not on the organizers' banned list but Inka was found guilty.

Imam Sujudi, chairman of the commission, said that each sports organization has the right to punish athletes involved in doping cases.

"But there is no controversy. The IOC has its own drugs lists and all international sports bodies also have their own," he said.

Imam said that the association has to decide whether to side with the IOC or the international sports bodies. (yan)