Kuala Lumpur: Indonesia joined Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and Australia to become the fifth nation to pull out of the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals that will be held in Aarhus, Denmark, from October 3 to October 11, 2020, citing health concerns for its players over COVID-19.
The Badminton Association of Indonesia or PBSI said that Indonesian players were worried about the possibility that they would be exposed to Covid-19, either on the way, in transit, or at the venue.
The Indonesian badminton players and officials also voiced their doubts about taking part in the prestigious team tournament because there was no guarantee from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) if any Indonesian players contracted Covid-19 accidentally, who and how BWF would handle the situation.
Due to the reasons above, PBSI leadership has decided to withdraw from the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals.
Furthermore, Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, will reimpose large-scale mobility restrictions from next Monday as a rise in Covid-19 cases threatens to overwhelm the city’s health system.
“The Indonesian team has confirmed to withdraw from the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in Denmark. We will immediately send a written statement to BWF regarding this matter. This decision was made after we met with players and the team officials,” said PBSI secretary-general Achmad Budiharto.
“We saw a good opportunity at the beginning, but due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia and other countries, we’ve decided to pull out,” explained Budiharto.
With the withdrawal of the Indonesian team from the 2020 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals, that also means that the Indonesian players will not be participating in the Denmark Open I and Denmark Open II events which will kick off after the prestigious team event.
