Jakarta, IO – Gold medalist for Men’s Singles Badminton in the Athena 2004 Olympics, Taufik Hidayat , announced his resignation as Expert Staff in Mentoring and Achievements of the All Indonesian Badminton Association’s Central Management (Pengurus Pusat Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia – “PP PBSI”): “Evan as an expert staff member, I was never even included in any meeting. Nobody even asked for my input or opinion when it came time to select athletes or coaches for the National Team,” he complained, as quoted by Antara. “If I’m not allowed to contribute, if I’m to be made just a show piece, I might as well work outside of PBSI!”
Taufik went on to express his grievances about PBSI’s mentoring system for his division, as well as what he considers the organization’s arrogant treatment towards him: “Oh there’s lots to be salty about. For example, during my tenure there were multiple internal issues involving my department, but they never bothered to involve me in the problem-solving. So yes, I submitted my Resignation Letter,” he said. “With or without me, PBSI will be doing fine anyway. If there’s no difference with my being there, I might as well resign. I’m more than just a show piece – I don’t want to just sit there decorating the place, but not contributing to anything whatsoever.”
Criticisms against PP PBSI
Taufik has many grievances against PP PBSI, with one of the biggest issues being the (lack of) provision of training for regional players. “True, we need to focus on training our National Team. But let’s not forget our “arms and legs” – our members in the regions. Please remember that there are 34 Provincial Branches under the Central Management. All Regional Branches in any organization look up to the Center, and they should be provided with good programs,” he said. “We also need to evaluate how we organize Centralized National Training scheme. What is going on here? How come we keep on doing the same thing year after year? If the senior players stop achieving, they can retire and we can still raise new players. Other than that, there are so many coaches out there, with different technical training and physical training methods we haven’t tried yet.”