World tennis organizations declare Benny innocent

World tennis organizations declare Benny innocent

JAKARTA (JP): Controversies surrounding the 14th National
Games doping test results are looming large after the two world
tennis bodies declared Benny Wijaya clean.

Soegiharso, deputy secretary of the Indonesian Tennis
Association, told a press conference that both the International
Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP) sent faxes Wednesday and Thursday saying the
substances found in Benny's urine samples were not listed among
banned ones by the two tennis bodies.

The National Sports Council stripped Benny of his two gold
medals early this week after the Games doping laboratory found
traces of the stimulant heptaminol acefyllinate, which is banned
by the International Olympic Committee, in the samples.

Another five athletes also failed their dope tests. The
council should let the athletes' respective sport organizations
decide punishment for the drug cheats according to regulations
set by their respective world bodies.

"The association will discuss the possible penalties imposed
on Benny internally," Sugiharso said.

Former national No. 1 Benny, who snapped up a double gold in
the men's singles and the men's team for Jakarta, voluntarily
admitted taking cariamyl to cure his fever.

"I hope the national tennis body opts to refer to both the ITF
and the ATP rather than the IOC," Benny said yesterday.
"According to the two world tennis organizations, the drugs I
consumed would not influence my playing. I still could win
without the drugs."

Benny, once the Indonesian Tennis Association's naughty boy
for refusing to play in the Davis Cup last year, said the
council's punishment had cracked him under pressure.

Dangsina Moeloek, chairwoman of the 13th Games' doping
commission, urged her successors at yesterday's press meeting to
choose between the IOC and the two international tennis bodies
for regulations as reference points.

In the previous Games three years ago, each sport organization
referred to their respective international bodies when they took
punitive measures against drug cheats. A swimmer and four
cyclists served match bans between six and 15 months for using
steroids in the 13th Games.

Unprofessional

Dangsina, who is now working for the Indonesian Tennis
Association, also criticized the 14th Games doping commission for
lacking in professionalism by appointing an unqualified person
for the top post at the doping laboratory.

She said such a doping laboratory should be chaired by a
doctor in biochemistry or pharmacology. A dentist was named for
the job instead.

Dangsina also called on the commission to drop the doping
cases because of some dubiousness in the Games regulations and
because penalties would not serve as the appropriate form of
punishment for the six athletes.

Benny, men's judoist Dwi Sihmanto, women's hockey player
Fatimous Munaidah, men's shooter Lt. Col Siswanto and women's
shooters First Lt. Titik Sumarni and Inca Ferry were found guilty
of taking stimulants.

"Let's use Inca's case as an example. The substances found in
her samples were not included in the commission's list of banned
drugs," she said. Inca, a double silver medalists from
Yogyakarta, admitted using fenflouramine to treat her cold.

"Why don't we just get over it and rehabilitate the six
athletes?," she said.

The sport council's chairman, Wismoyo Arismunandar, has called
for minimum penalties against the six athletes because they
unintentionally took the drugs. Wismoyo also said the substances
found in the athletes's urine samples were not as dangerous as
steroids.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Indonesian Shooting
Association, Soetiyoso, told reporters the association would not
punish Inca and Titiek. "They have lost their medals. I don't
want to give additional punishments," he said.

Siswanto was an exception, however, because he took beta
blockers, which should have influenced his performance, according
to Sutiyoso. (yan)