Hindarto plays down injury worries

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's chef de mission to the Asian Games, Mochamad Hindarto, shrugged off injury worries on Wednesday on the eve of his contingent's departure for Bangkok.

Hindarto said four athletes were suffering longstanding injuries but he was not too concerned, saying they were minor in nature.

"Everything is okay. We just need to provide tape, knee supports, wrist supports and ankle supports for them so they can go all-out during the Asian Games," Hindarto said.

He refused to identify the athletes.

Indonesia is sending 129 athletes to compete in 21 of the 36 medal events at the upcoming Asiad which takes place from Dec. 6 to Dec. 20. The majority of the national team will depart on Thursday on an Air Force Boeing 707.

Hindarto said the injuries would not hinder the athletes' performances during the quadrennial event.

"They fared well and showed encouraging progress during training. They even beat their sparring partners. We still hope they will win medals despite the injuries," he said.

Only three doctors -- Enny, Sri Murni and Mohammad Sarengat -- and three sports medical experts -- Harsono, Carmen Jahya and Abdul Rahim -- are in the contingent, despite the fact that the National Sports Council has estimated a surplus of Rp 3 billion in its budget for Indonesia's participation in the games.

Due to the lack of medical staff, Hindarto asked sports organizations to take their own doctors.

Hindarto also said the International Olympic Committee- accredited doping laboratory in East Jakarta had conducted 40 tests and all of them were clean.

But he warned the Asiad-bound athletes against drinking traditional herbal medicine jamu, saying it contained unfamiliar substances which Asian Games doping officials might suspect of being performance-enhancing.

"It remains unclear whether the unfamiliar substances are illegal or not, but we'd rather not take any risks," Hindarto said.

Badminton world champion Sigit Budiarto, who was banned for one year pending appeal for using nandrolone anabolic steroid, admitted he drank jamu to gain weight a few days before he failed a dope test at the Singapore Open in August. (yan)