PBSI unaware of trainees' ordeal
PBSI unaware of trainees' ordeal
JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) yesterday said it knew nothing about the allegation that a Chinese coach hired by a top badminton club had sexually harassed teenage female trainees.
"I can't comment now. I was totally uninformed about this," PBSI secretary general R.A.J. Gosal told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Gosal said he learned of the case from yesterday's morning newspapers and was still in the dark about it.
Gosal added that he has a meeting with other PBSI officials this afternoon. "Only after I discuss it with other PBSI officials will I be able to offer comments on behalf of PBSI," he said.
Gosal said the main agenda of the meeting was the evaluation of Indonesia's failure at the recently concluded All-England badminton championships and the preparations of Indonesian shuttlers for the World Badminton Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, slated for May 10-12.
A statement by Hans Darmawan, who claims to represent the victims' parents, accused the Chinese coach of having invited the teenagers into a room for concentration exercises during which he forced them to remove their clothes and, while exposing himself, he started touching their bodies, Antara news agency reported on Wednesday.
The incidents happened over a period of two years but were only recently disclosed and Fang Kai Shiang, whom the Bimantara Tangkas badminton club hired in 1991, returned to China last February, the national news agency said.
In a handout which bears neither contact address nor telephone number made available to Antara, Darmawan said some parents caught Fang fondling their daughters and that protests to the club's executive director went unheeded.
Instead of bringing the matter to the police, the executive director of the club, Yuniarto Suhandinata, sent Fang back to China, said Darmawan in the statement.
However, the club's secretary, Munir, told the Post that he had so far received no complaints from either the parents or the girls who were allegedly harassed. Munir added he checked the girls' files and Hans Darmawan was not mentioned in any of them.
Yuniarto was not available when contacted yesterday, but Antara reported Yuniarto to have said on Wednesday that the case was the club's internal affair and that it had been closed.
"We have taken punitive measures by dismissing him before his contract ends," Yuniarto was quoted by Antara as saying.
Fang signed a two-year (1991-1993) contract with Bimantara. The contract was extended for one year until 1994. Bimantara had intended to again extend the contract until the end of this year. Upon the disclosure of the case, Bimantara annulled the contract in mid February. Fang returned to China a week later. (arf)