Tennis body to decide fate of Benny Wijaya

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Tennis Association has summoned its Jakarta chapter to a meeting scheduled for this afternoon to learn what the chapter has to say about the doping scandal involving Benny Wijaya.

A senior official with the association, Eddy Katimansah, said that later in the evening, the association's 11 top brass, including Eddy himself, are expected to attend a closed-door meeting to decide Benny's fate.

Former national men's singles No. 1 Benny, who won two gold medals in both the men's team and individual tennis competition at the 14th National Games last month, tested positive for the banned stimulant heptaminol acefyllinate.

His urine samples that tested positive, however, were taken after he finished the team competition. The other samples, taken after he finished the individual competition, were clean. Cariamyl, the patent name of the medicine Benny took, left no trace eight hours after it was ingested.

Previously, in a hearing with the chapter, Benny was quoted by Jakarta's sports governing body chairman Kusnan Ismukanto as saying Benny got the banned medicine from a pediatrician who has treated his rhinitis since his childhood. The pediatrician was apparently unaware of the list of banned substances in connection with the Games.

Eddy said he believed Benny was innocent of any wrongdoing. However, because a banned substance had been found in his urine, Benny is, at any rate, subject to punishment.

According to the International Tennis Federation's rules and regulations, the punishment for such an offense is a three-month suspension starting from the date such a decision is made, Eddy said.

Eddy, who is in charge of the association's foreign affairs, said he would inform the International Tennis Federation about Benny's case only after learning the results of the association's meeting this evening.

Meanwhile, a member of the Games' anti-doping commission, Wismiyarti Tamin, said she regretted doping expert Dangsina Moeloek's comment that Yogyakarta's female shooter, Inca Ferry, could file a lawsuit against the commission for failing to include fenflouramine, which Inca tested positive for, on the list of banned substances it issued.

Dangsina said even though the substance had been declared illegal by the International Olympic Committee, Inca should escape punishment because it was not listed as such by the Games organizing committee.

Dangsina referred to a similar case at the Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand last year, in which a Thai shooter tested positive for beta blockers but was declared innocent because the substance, which induces a slower heartbeat, was not on the list of banned substances issued by the Games' organizer.

Wismiyarti, who is also chairwoman of the national doping laboratory, said Dangsina should not have suggested that Inca bring the case to the court.

If Inca does and she wins, the two silver medals she earned at the Games will remain in her hands. It would also be the first doping case in Indonesia which goes to court. (arf)