KONI relegates lifters from 2002 Asian Games priority list
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Sports Council (KONI) has decided to drop four weightlifters from the priority list for the 2002 Asian Games after criticisms of bias were found with the eligibility assessment.
PABBSI, the national body governing weightlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding, formerly had its four lifters Erwin Abdullah, Sri Indriyani, Lisa Rumbewas and Rosmaniar on the 41-member list of top priority athletes.
Representing 12 different sports, the priority athletes are supposed to have met the criteria set by KONI and are then given priority in the preparation in an effort to foster any realistic prospect of winning gold medals.
However, the weightlifting list has been the target of criticisms as Rosmaniar does not appear to meet the criteria. Competing in the 48kg category, She only finished fourth at the recent Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Her position is two levels shy of one of the three requirements set by KONI that the athletes, in search of an entry for the national contingent in Pusan, should be KL SEA Games finalists.
Other names, who should have been included in the list, were inexplicably bypassed by PABBSI. Among them are Misdan Yunip, Yadi Setiyadi, Tati Pratiwi and Junaedi. With the exception of Tati who is from Central Java, the lifters are all from the Lampung training center.
The first three won gold medals in Kuala Lumpur, while Junaedi was a silver medalist.
The decision drew allegations that the weightlifting association was biased in the selection procedure especially when it was up against Lampung lifters, widely recognized as the country's top group of competitors in the sport.
"We have talked with PABBSI officials and it appears they made mistakes in their prioritizing procedure," Imron ZS, the training director, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting at KONI headquarters on Monday.
Imron said PABBSI had originally put aside two groups of four lifters each. "But it seemed that it had proposed the wrong group," he said.
The cancellation from the priority list means that the lifters will join the other four names, all being regarded as second choices in KONI's policy.
The lifters will start the training camp next January, along with other athletes from judo, billiards, archery, athletics and beach volleyball.
Meanwhile, the official start of training for top priority athletes was early this month, however, many of them have not joined the camp yet.
"We will go through another decision process and see who manages to make an improvement and who has the better medal prospects," Imron said.
Each team in the weightlifting competition in Pusan will be allowed to participate in up to five categories.
"Our strategy is that we will make a big push in the categories that China does not field its lifters," Imron said, referring to efforts to avoid competition with the powerful Chinese team.