Observer calls for minimum penalties for drug abusers
Observer calls for minimum penalties for drug abusers
JAKARTA (JP): A noted sports observer threw his weight
yesterday behind the National Sports Council's appeal for minimum
punishments against six athletes who failed dope tests in the
recent National Games.
The observer, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, who is also the
council's former secretary-general, told a press conference
yesterday the respective sports organizations that the athletes
are affiliated with should think wisely before imposing sentences
on them.
"The organizations have to find out the real problem and who
is to blame," Siregar said.
Traces of stimulants were detected in six out of 1,126
athletes' urine samples. Those who failed the dope tests were
former national men's singles No. 1 tennis player Benny Wijaya,
women's shooter Titiek Sumarni and men's judoka Dwi Sihmanto, all
from Jakarta. The other three were men's shooter Lt. Col.
Siswanto from Irian Jaya, women's shooter Inca Ferry of
Yogyakarta and women's hockey player Fatimous Munaidah from East
Java.
The Sports Council Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar said upon
revealing the athletes' names that they unintentionally took the
drugs.
"The main problem of these cases is merely the lack of
information about doping among athletes, officials, coaches and
even doctors," Siregar said.
Siregar, who is a top official with the Jakarta tennis
governing body, cited Inca as an example of someone with a lack
of doping information. "I saw Inca interviewed by RCTI and I
believed that she knew nothing about the substances," he said.
Siregar said the guilty athletes, who have had their medals
withdrawn, would serve the hardest part of their sentences in the
public eye. "They could be disgraced by the media coverage," he
said.
He hailed the policy adopted by the Yogyakarta sports body in
not canceling Inca's cash bonus, despite her doping case.
Doctors
Separately, Dr. Dangsina Moeloek, the official in charge of
doping tests in the previous National Games three years ago, said
yesterday that doctors who supplied the athletes with wrong drugs
could be punished.
"This is what the International Olympics Committee regulations
say about cases of doping," Dangsina said.
Some of the six athletes received the drugs from doctors who
apparently were not familiar with the banned substances.
Dangsina also said Yogyakarta's female shooter Inca should
have passed her dope test because she took medicine for her flu,
which did not contain banned substances according to the
guideline issued by the Games organizing committee.
"She took medicine containing fenflouramine, which is listed
as an illegal substance only by the International Olympic
Committee," Dangsina said, adding that the Yogyakartan could file
a lawsuit against the Games committee for the administrative
blunder.
Meanwhile, deputy of the Indonesian Medical Association, Yusuf
Dzubaiti, told The Jakarta Post the association is not
considering taking punitive measures against its members who were
involved in the doping row because it has yet to set up
regulations dealing with doping cases.
"It's quite new in the country and not all doctors, athletes
and officials know about it," he said.
"The main problem is the information has not been delivered to
all parties," he added.
Yusuf said the council, the association and sports doctors
must talk about doping together. (yan)
JAKARTA (JP): A noted sports observer threw his weight
yesterday behind the National Sports Council's appeal for minimum
punishments against six athletes who failed dope tests in the
recent National Games.
The observer, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, who is also the
council's former secretary-general, told a press conference
yesterday the respective sports organizations that the athletes
are affiliated with should think wisely before imposing sentences
on them.
"The organizations have to find out the real problem and who
is to blame," Siregar said.
Traces of stimulants were detected in six out of 1,126
athletes' urine samples. Those who failed the dope tests were
former national men's singles No. 1 tennis player Benny Wijaya,
women's shooter Titiek Sumarni and men's judoka Dwi Sihmanto, all
from Jakarta. The other three were men's shooter Lt. Col.
Siswanto from Irian Jaya, women's shooter Inca Ferry of
Yogyakarta and women's hockey player Fatimous Munaidah from East
Java.
The Sports Council Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar said upon
revealing the athletes' names that they unintentionally took the
drugs.
"The main problem of these cases is merely the lack of
information about doping among athletes, officials, coaches and
even doctors," Siregar said.
Siregar, who is a top official with the Jakarta tennis
governing body, cited Inca as an example of someone with a lack
of doping information. "I saw Inca interviewed by RCTI and I
believed that she knew nothing about the substances," he said.
Siregar said the guilty athletes, who have had their medals
withdrawn, would serve the hardest part of their sentences in the
public eye. "They could be disgraced by the media coverage," he
said.
He hailed the policy adopted by the Yogyakarta sports body in
not canceling Inca's cash bonus, despite her doping case.
Doctors
Separately, Dr. Dangsina Moeloek, the official in charge of
doping tests in the previous National Games three years ago, said
yesterday that doctors who supplied the athletes with wrong drugs
could be punished.
"This is what the International Olympics Committee regulations
say about cases of doping," Dangsina said.
Some of the six athletes received the drugs from doctors who
apparently were not familiar with the banned substances.
Dangsina also said Yogyakarta's female shooter Inca should
have passed her dope test because she took medicine for her flu,
which did not contain banned substances according to the
guideline issued by the Games organizing committee.
"She took medicine containing fenflouramine, which is listed
as an illegal substance only by the International Olympic
Committee," Dangsina said, adding that the Yogyakartan could file
a lawsuit against the Games committee for the administrative
blunder.
Meanwhile, deputy of the Indonesian Medical Association, Yusuf
Dzubaiti, told The Jakarta Post the association is not
considering taking punitive measures against its members who were
involved in the doping row because it has yet to set up
regulations dealing with doping cases.
"It's quite new in the country and not all doctors, athletes
and officials know about it," he said.
"The main problem is the information has not been delivered to
all parties," he added.
Yusuf said the council, the association and sports doctors
must talk about doping together. (yan)