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.