Asian Games: Indonesia rejects pencak silat cheating claims – top official Erick Thohir ‘saddened by fellow Muslim countries’
Several countries say judges are favouring local athletes, who have won 14 of the 16 gold medals on offer in the sport
The pencak silat controversy is refusing to go away with Indonesia’s top Asian Games official coming out to defend their honour after some countries – along with the sport’s regional chief – questioned the quality of judging in Jakarta.
With the traditional martial arts sport’s reputation suffering and its Asian Games future under threat, Erick Thohir, an Indonesian media tycoon who is chairman of the 2018 Asian Games organising committee Inasgoc, slammed accusations that judges favoured Indonesian players – who won 14 of the 16 gold medals on offer.
“We [Indonesia] also compete a lot in other countries and when the host wins we never complain,” said Thohir. “I regret that there are several countries complaining, especially [fellow] Islamic countries that are well connected to us.
“I reject accusations of cheating. It is open, people can see it on television and it is clear. We monitor closely all judges, who are chosen by the Asian governing body.
“We see the domination of certain countries in sports such as judo, karate and taekwondo. The funny thing is when Indonesia achieves such success, why do people complain?”