Wushu body hopes for return of athlete Zaenab from France

JAKARTA (JP): Wushu Association (WI) chairman Mediteransjah expressed hope national wushu athlete Zaenab of North Sumatra would represent Indonesia in international events.

Mediteransjah said Zaenab had left Indonesia for France for an undetermined period of time after marrying a Frenchman last year.

However, he does not know when Zaenab, the 1995 World Wushu Championship silver medalist, flew to France or where she currently is residing.

"She just went away without any notification in November. I invited her to attend the opening of the prequalifying round for the 15th National Games here and she came in the evening. I spoke with her and I planned to meet her the following day, but when I tried to contact her, she had gone," he said.

He said Zaenab was still a national asset, and WI would try to find a solution to have Zaenab return to Indonesia and join the national team.

"She is the world champion. We want her to return to Indonesia," he said on the sidelines of the National Sports Council plenary meeting here, which ended on Wednesday.

Mediteransjah said he had sent a letter to the French wushu association to notify it of Zaenab's presence and to inform it that WI would not allow Zaenab to compete for France in international events.

"I have sent a letter to the French wushu association informing it that our world-class athlete was there. I said WI objected to any attempts to recruit her to the French national team to represent France in world events," he said.

He said Zaenab, who also used to compete in tai chi, might be working in France as a tai chi instructor.

"Tai chi students usually are wealthy people. In the United States, I heard that a tai chi instructor can earn US$15 an hour. It's possible that Zaenab might be teaching tai chi to earn a living, but we have yet to hear from her and we can't reach her at the moment," he said.

He also said he would not try to separate Zaenab from her French husband. "We won't prohibit her from living here with her foreign husband. It's a violation of human rights."

He also said he did not want to take the blame for failing to keep a world champion in Indonesia.

"A few of our world-class athletes, like women's shuttler Mia Audina, have left the country to competed for the Netherlands. We felt that Zaenab could follow her own path. We have to discuss how to keep our national assets in our country. We don't want other people blaming us for not developing our talented athletes. There should be a strong commitment from both parties," he said.(ivy)