Indonesia slaps bans on scandal-tainted shuttlers

Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari have been banned for ‘throwing’ a match at the London Olympics.

Jakarta, Sep 5 (IANS) The Indonesian badminton association (PBSI) Wednesday slapped a four-month ban on the women’s doubles pair involved in the Olympic match-throwing scandal.

“After studying and hearing, the sanction will be applied from the date of the incident until Dec 3,” Yacob Rusdianto, secretary general of the association, said, reports Xinhua.

“With all due respect, we suffer losses (in this decision) but it should be understood that the sanction should be given because they violated rules of fair play. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has declared them guilty,” he added.

Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari, along with a Chinese duo and two South Korean pairs, were disqualified from the London Olympics for intentionally playing poorly in pool matches to secure an easier quarterfinal draw.

They were charged under the BWF’s Player Code of Conduct with “not using one’s best efforts to win a match” and “conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport”.

Last month the pair said they were ready to accept the PBSI’s decision.

“On behalf of the both of us, I’m ready to accept whatever sanction the PBSI gives us though we still don’t know what kind of sanction,” Meiliana had said.