IBF will not punish Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): The International Badminton Federation (IBF) will not impose sanctions on Indonesia following incidents involving rowdy, local spectators who flocked the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Senayan stadium here last month.

Titus Kurniadi, chairman of the events' organizing committee, told newsmen over the weekend that Lu Shengrong, the president of IBF, had notified him that no sanctions will be imposed on Indonesia.

IBF decided not to complete the Thomas Cup final after Indonesia led Malaysia 3-0 in the best of five tournament, which was besieged by thousands of boisterous and plastic-bottle throwing local fans.

Usually, the full five games are played out even if the match has already been decided.

The incident did not stop Indonesia from grabbing two of the most prestigious prizes in badminton's team championships. However, it did cause some concern that IBF might ban Indonesia from hosting future events.

"Madame Lu has sent me a congratulatory note for holding the two competitions successfully," Titus said. "This means no sanctions for Indonesia."

The former IBF official cautioned, however, that at the next IBF meeting in Malaysia next November they might pass some new regulations regarding the behavior of spectators.

"If we break these new rules we will be in trouble for sure," he said as quoted by the Jawa Pos daily.

Meanwhile AFP reported from Cheltenham, England, a US$20 million deal which is the biggest in the history of badminton will see the sport televised in 53 countries and provide an enormous boost to an already burgeoning world circuit.

The agreement, between Star Television, the International Management Group (IMG), and the International Badminton Federation (IBF), will build upon the success of badminton's spectacular Olympic debut in Barcelona in 1992 in which for five days it had the biggest TV audience of any sport. (hdj)