PBSI in damage control mode after Icuk's resignation

PBSI in damage control mode after Icuk's resignation

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) vowed on
Wednesday to minimize the fallout from the sudden resignation of
Sudirman Cup team manager Icuk Sugiarto with less than a month
before the mixed team competition.

"Icuk's decision to resign from PBSI will certainly affect our
preparation for the Sudirman Cup because he was the team
manager," PBSI secretary-general M.F. Siregar said.

"But now it's better to minimize the impact."

Although Icuk resigned on Tuesday as PBSI's head of
development, which included overseeing the National Training
Center and heading the Sudirman Cup team, Siregar said no
replacement would be named until after the competition in Beijing
in May.

"We will hold a plenary meeting about it and PBSI chairman
Sutiyoso will give his approval afterward," he said.

An outspoken and sometimes controversial figure, Icuk was
angered by a warning letter sent to him by PBSI after he failed
to attend an April 1 meeting.

Icuk, who was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in his capacity with
the Office of State Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs,
complained that the association issued an "us-or-them" ultimatum.

"It was unfair that I was forced to either leave PBSI or the
Office of State Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs because of
my absence from one meeting," he said.

"Actually, I wanted to dedicate myself to both offices."

Icuk added that he was also unhappy with the limits imposed on
him in his duties as head of development.

The 1983 men's singles World Champion emerged as a central
figure in the country's most successful sports association last
year after successfully endorsing Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso as
its chief.

However, his tenure has been marked by controversy, including
the acceptance of his son Tommy to the national men's training
program and a public spat with Athens Olympic gold medalist
Taufik Hidayat about bonuses.