PABBSI barred from PON participation

PABBSI barred from PON participation

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

The National Sports Council (KONI) said here on Thursday it
would allow bodybuilders from the troubled Indonesian Weight
Lifting, Power Lifting and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) to
participate in the 2004 National Games (PON).

But it added that the bodybuilding competition at PON would
not involve PABBSI as an institution after its membership was
revoked by the Asian Bodybuilding Federation (ABBF) and the
International Bodybuilding Federation (IBBF) last year.

"We will take over the competition and appoint individuals
from both PABBSI and the (newly established) Indonesian
Bodybuilding Federation to the organizing committee," Djoko
Pramono, KONI's chief of development affairs, said.

PABBSI's membership in the two federations was revoked in
September after it came out that the association supported
Musclemania, an international bodybuilding event the ABBF and
IBBF do not endorse.

The two international bodies have sanctioned the establishment
of the Indonesian Bodybuilding Federation (FBI), whose first
international event was the Asian Bodybuilding Championships in
Bali in June.

However, KONI has yet to give its recognition to the new
federation.

Djoko's statement on Thursday came in the wake of recent
concerns that Indonesian bodybuilders would be barred from
multievent international sporting competitions like the SEA
Games, the Asian Games and the Olympics because of PABBSI's
troubles.

Djoko said the exclusion of PABBSI from PON was expected to
prevent this from occurring.

"I think this is the best solution to help the athletes and
save the organization, our time and energy," he said.

Djoko plans to summon PABBSI officials at the end of this
month to talk over the issue.

KONI's decision was hailed by FBI secretary-general Steve
Tengko, who said it would benefit the athletes.

"The most important thing is that we have to prioritize the
athletes, so we support KONI's policy," he said.

The 2004 PON will be held in Palembang, South Sumatra, from
Sept. 2 to Sept. 14.