TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton England on March 18 released an official statement clarifying the reason behind the withdrawal of the Indonesian players and team members from the All England Open 2021.

In the statement, BWF confirmed that a number of players and team members from the Indonesian team have been contacted by the UK Government’s National Health Service (NHS) Test and Trace service and are required to self-isolate with immediate effect.

In accordance with UK Government requirements, the entire team will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their inbound flight after a person travelling onboard tested positive for COVID-19, as stated on BWF website.

It asserted that all Indonesian players would not be able to compete in the current or next round of the tournament, "and have therefore been withdrawn from the YONEX All England Open 2021. We regretted the unfortunate consequences," said BWF.

Meanwhile, BWF and Badminton England said they will continue to follow all protocols required by the UK Government and the local health authorities to ensure the safety of all participants.

It assured that all results to date will stand and the draw will remain unchanged. "All scheduled opponents in the next round will be given a walkover," BWF remarked.

Responding to that matter, the Indonesian Badminton team manager, Ricky Soebagja, explained that the team had been withdrawn from the All England 2021 due to an indication of a contact with a Covid-19 positive person during their flight to England.

"During the flight from Istanbul to Birmingham on Saturday, March 13, there was a Covid-19 positive passenger. But we were not made aware of who was it, or how many of them, and where is the origin of the country of the person in question," Ricky said Thursday, March 18.

He added that, therefore, in accordance with the UK regulations, they have to self-isolate for 10 days.

When the decision was made, three Indonesian team members had competed in the first round of All England 2021. They were Jonatan Christie, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, and Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan. Another representative, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu, had won the competition, while the other three representatives have yet to play the game and were given a walkover status.

IRSYAN HASYIM | BWF