Taufik loses cool with badminton bosses

Discussion in 'Indonesia Professional Players' started by kwun, Feb 16, 2005.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    [font=Helvetica, Arial]Taufik loses cool with badminton bosses[/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta[/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica]Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat is threatening to withdraw from the Indonesia team for the All England tournament next month in protest of the Indonesian Badminton Association's (PBSI) move to cut 50 percent of his Olympic bonus money from sponsor Yonex.[/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik was a finalist at the All England in 1999 and 2000. After his Olympic triumph in Athens last year, his confidence is high, and he is expected to vie for the title in the All England, if he goes, which will run from March 8 to 13. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] But that bid is now uncertain after an incident at the National Training Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on Tuesday. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] After he wrapped up his morning training session, Taufik got into a quarrel with the head of PBSI's development affairs and director of the training center Icuk Sugiarto. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] Several coaches, including men's doubles coach Christian Hadinata and Taufik's mentor Mulyo Handoyo, had to step in and break up the heated argument. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik berated Icuk, accusing him of not fighting for the shuttlers' rights and calling him a liar. Icuk yelled back and told Taufik to behave himself. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] After the quarrel, Icuk explained to curious journalists that Taufik was demanding 100 percent of the 2004 Olympic Games bonus of US$45,000 given by Yonex, one of the largest badminton accessories manufacturers in the world. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] "That would be against PBSI policy, which states that bonuses from sponsors are halved between the shuttlers and PBSI. That policy has been in place for several years," Icuk explained. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] "We have not changed the policy, so Taufik gets 50 percent of his 2004 Olympic Games bonus." [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik won Indonesia's only gold medal in Athens. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] Icuk said Taufik should have understood the policy, instead of blaming him for not fighting for the shuttlers' rights. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] "He seems unhappy with the 50-50 split and is threatening not to participate in All England," Icuk said, and added that he would leave it to PBSI chairman Sutiyoso to handle the issue. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik, who was named Player of the Year in 2004 by the International Badminton Federation (IBF), could not be reached for comment after the spat with Icuk. [/font]

    [font=Arial, Helvetica] If Taufik carries through on his threat, that would leave it to men's singles youngster Simon Santoso; women's singles players Ardianti Firdasari and Maria Kristin; men's doubles pairs Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto, Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto, Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan; women's doubles pair Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita, and mixed doubles pairs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir, Anggun Nugroho/Yunita Tetty and Devin Lahardi/Eny Widiowati to represent Indonesia at the All England.[/font]
     
  2. wood_22_chuck

    wood_22_chuck Regular Member

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    POLL! :D

    I say Taufik has the right to 100% despite the fact that it's national participation that produces champions. Reason is, Taufik is the ONLY Indonesian shuttler to rise head and shoulders above the competition in the Olympics.

    -dave
     
  3. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Well, I don't know what other monetary incentives that Taufik was offered as the Athens Champ, but I think he thoroughly deserves the Yonex bonus in full. This bonus does not even come out of the PBSI pockets and to share it is almost criminal. But if Taufik has already received a fortune from his win, then he should stick to the policy. Otherwise PBSI should now take the opportunity to change it for the player's benefit.

    In Singapore, an Athens Olympic gold medal is worth at least S$1 million.
     
  4. libra

    libra Regular Member

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    If it's a written rule that PBSI gets 50% of the bonus for Taufik's win I guess there really isn't much for him to complain about. It's there in black and white.

    The fact that he is heads and shoulders above the rest of the team or weather he deserves it is irrelavent.

    In defence of PBSI they come out with money for coaching, travel, shuttles, court hire etc so they should be entitled to some of their players winnings - who determines how much they get is another matter.
     
  5. jug8man

    jug8man Regular Member

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    ****sigh****


    taufik dedicated the olympic gold medal win to his country. but wants every penny for himself. :rolleyes:


    he's only confident of himself when training at pelatnas, but always makes noise when he's there............... ****sigh****

    8man
     
  6. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    tend to agree too.
    taufik deserves the bonus but PBSI policy was there before the olympic so it is fair to all pbsi players if policy is followed. Set bad example if exception is given to 1 player even if taufik achievement is undeniable. Doesnt taufik get special goodies from the INA gov't ? I mean susi s and his husband budi got $$ and houses from the INA gov't. So did ricky and rexy. (but that was when rupee worth something :p )

    The S$1 million is from the gov't i thot and likely meant for the olympican who got the gold. No confusion there. Yonex signed a pbsi sponsorship wif the INA team. When ur an olympican, u play for the country's glory, not self :rolleyes:
     
    #6 cooler, Feb 16, 2005
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2005
  7. Anatolii

    Anatolii Regular Member

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    *giggles* funny the way you put it :D.

    honestly i don't see how taufik's threat of backing out of All England would help this already hopeless situation. he's just cornering himself into a tight spot in his demand of justice - that he deserves every bit of the bonus.

    if it was a PBSI policy right from the start, there wouldn't be any reason to make it an exception for them not to take the 50 % share.

    even though they haven't done anything to deserve it. :rolleyes:

    Jug8man, "taufik dedicated the olympic gold medal win to his country. but wants every penny for himself. :rolleyes: "

    aah! :D so he a money- minded patriot.
     
    #7 Anatolii, Feb 16, 2005
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2005
  8. Anatolii

    Anatolii Regular Member

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    it would still worth something in INA.
     
  9. aiyuuw

    aiyuuw Regular Member

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    okay, but actually its rupiah, not rupee
    oh, i just read that taufik denied that he was threating pbsi that he wont compete in ae, and also that he just got Rp.2B house as a bonus from sutiyoso, after he got 1B before.
    well, finally taufik gets back to his nature, becos i thought it was kinda weird that he was so calm and didnt do any extreme things, so, good that hes back[​IMG](sorry, but i kinda like him when he 'behave', its funny[​IMG])
     
  10. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Surely, this 50-50 split could not have come as a surprise to him?

    After Athens, Taufik should certainly be in a position to improve his deal with the PBSI. But I don't see why he thinks he could lay his hands on that bonus retroactively.

    I suspect this is not really about the money.
    Is Taufik creating a split in order to leave Indonesia without losing face?
     
  11. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    Well its only fair for him to take all the winnings. However there might be another reason why PBSI want to split it 50-50 due to the rules and regulations they have set even before the tournament. IMHO , just follow the rules. I'm sure Taufik is aware of it unless someone didnt inform him about it.
     
  12. jkusmanto

    jkusmanto Regular Member

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    Well......

    "As you a star, you can do anything what you want".

    The upper sentence sit -maybe- in Taufik's head.
    The bonus from sponsor is 50-50 between player and organization.
    Thus... Taufik get 50% and PBSI get 50%.
    This kind of policy is already there, years before Taufik got into prof.

    For some big tournaments like TC, UC, WC and OG, PBSI always gives extra bonus for the champs. Not only PBSI, but sometime the Gouverment, private sectors, etc, etc.....
    So did Alan, Susi, Rexy, Ricky, Hedrawan, etc..etc....

    If I am not forgoten, after he won the OG, he got 2 billion rupiahs from PBSI, 1 billion rupiahs from the Indo gouverment and 22.500 US$ from Yonex (50%).
    But now hij claim the other 22.500 US$.

    So.... now I am sure that Taufik is somebody who always think about himseft, or more detail ....... SELFISH. :rolleyes: :cool:
     
  13. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    hmm, reasonable hypothesis. Now where would he like to depart to? We have 2 ex-INA players in the US, 1 in UK, 1 in CD. Maybe SG? Would his coach follow him?
     
  14. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    ok, it's rupiah :eek:
    but a billion or 2 of anything is a lot ;)
     
  15. jamesd20

    jamesd20 Moderator

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    I agree with Mag.

    Everytime he wins some prize money he will only get half of it. Why should it be different this time? Or is there a different rule to sponsor bonus and touranament prize money?

    $45000 is a lot of money for a badminton player!


    BTW does anybody know the kind of % other countries (MAL, KOR, CHN) take from the players successes?
     
  16. ctjcad

    ctjcad Regular Member

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    More reports on quarrel between Taufik and Icuk(long)..

    The news wasn't a real surprise to me when I heard. Esp. with someone involved like Taufik, who is well known for his "bad boy" behaviour. However, I'm going to give my take on this issue but before that, I will share a bit of what really happened as a summary, translated as best as I can. These infos are based on 2 reports posted by Jawapos, dated Feb. 17th, 2005

    According to the report, the quarrel was mainly based on the "bonus money" given by Yonex(which was around $45,000). It actually started on Monday afternoon(02/14) when Icuk got a msg from Sutiyoso to call Taufik and his current coach(Mulyo Handoyo) to meet with Sutiyoso the next day Tuesday. But on the following day, when Icuk approached and asked Taufik if he had met with Sutiyoso, for some reason Taufik confronted Icuk and started yelling, as the altercation began in front of players and coaches. Taufik said some words that "hurt the feeling of Icuk". Taufik then started to open up the issue on why his "bonus money" was cut in half etc. The main reason was a conflict or misunderstanding on the bonus given to Taufik. According to PBSI, Yonex gave PBSI about $45,000 as a bonus for them(Taufik) winning the Olympics. However, Taufik who won the gold, was given the "bonus money" from Yonex(along with additional money already given his $10,000 bonus from PBSI and added to that around $200,000 house given by PBSI). But for some reason, according to Taufik, PBSI wanted to take away 50% of his "bonus money". According to the report, during the incident unfortunately words that shouldn't come out, came out from both Taufik and Icuk. On top of that, Sutiyoso heard those comments made by both party. After hearing that, Sutiyoso called both men and talked with them to clear some air. He said 'he promised that this incident will be the first and last between players and committe members'. One thing to note, in order to avoid more tense feeling, Icuk didn't attend the ceremony of presenting the new house for Taufik on Wednesday. Actually according to Icuk, he was the one asked by PBSI Treasurer, Serian Wijatno to discuss the issue with Taufik. But during the quarrel with Taufik, for some reason Taufik mentioned that he "threatened" to back-out of the upcoming AE tournament. Even Serian also was a bit surprised by Taufik's reaction, because according to him, throughout all 17 tournaments last year, PBSI also took some chunk of the money. He then made clear that, in all circumstances, prior to players and coaches receiving any cash prize, they have to sign some papers. Which in those papers, it also gave notes to the players how many percentages of the cash given will be theirs and how many percentage will be for PBSI. And according to Serian, the money taken for PBSI will be used to fund the operational cost(ie. training center, secretariat, local developments, and cost of sending players overseas to play). In actuality, PBSI only receive about $400,000 per year in receiving part of the "bonus money". Whilst they actually need about $2,500,000 to $3,000,000. He also mentioned that during the 2000 Olympic in Sidney, when Tony and Candra won, their bonus was also cut and given to PBSI. And both of them never complained. Icuk added 'Regarding the bonus money issue, it's already been a common procedure ever since the period of Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo(head of PBSI from 1993-2001), so he doesn't understand why Taufik suddenly asked again"

    As everyone knows, Taufik has been involved in many controversies. For example during last year's Thomas and Uber Cup, he got into minor altercation with the driver of the current Indonesian vice president. That incident also involved the police. Then during the recent Indonesian Open, he also got into an altercation with Alan Budikusuma(Susy Susanti's husband). The issue was over the use of title sponsor on the shirt/clothing. And recently as in the last 2 weeks, he also got into some altercations. The first was with PBSi Vice Presiden Ferrial Sofyan, the issue was over the "bonus money". Then shortly he got into minor altercation with Candra Wijaya, his teammate, over a car parking space. But according to Taufik, 'he never insulted PBSi and its management people. He was just asking the honesty and open-ness of the PBSI, because according to him, through all this time he hasn't seen any action of open-ness or honesty esp. towards the players from PBSI. At the end he mentioned, 'If there's such a written rule/law about that, I can understand. But all this time, it's been just 'talk' and 'nothing serious'.

    The funny thing is, the next day after the incident, Taufik was reported in a happy mood when given the key to his new (2nd) house as a gift by Sutiyoso.


    Here's my 2 cents. IMO, this is just a bad timing, esp with the upcoming AE, where Taufik has already promised he will fulfill that. I believe it was a big misunderstanding between Taufik and Icuk/PBSI. The quarrel between Taufik and Icuk IMO is unwarranted as Icuk is not responsible for any decision regarding who should get the "bonus money etc." I think Taufik got upset at a wrong person. I think when he met Sutiyoso the day before, he already knew what was really up. Thus after hearing that and most likely can't argue with Sutiyoso, when he met Icuk the next day he couldn't hold his emotions any longer. During emotional and sensitive arguments, unfortunately things which shouldn't be said, were said by. For those of you who know how Indo govt. works, esp. with corruption, this is sometimes a touchy issue. Taufik was being too emotional, as he is well-known for. Unfortunately, I think he is a bit "spoiled" by the media as well as PBSI. IMO, if in fact Taufik felt maybe PBSI is not playing "honest and not being open", then he does have the right to express it. However, if in fact his assumptions is not proven(that PBSI "lied" about their words of giving 100% of the bonus to Taufik and then changed their story), then he should apologize. Thus, after looking at his actions, IMO he should apologize for his behavior both to Sutiyoso and esp. to Icuk. No matter what actually happen or not according to Taufik, whether PBSI breached/break their words/promise or what have you, as a professional athlete, playing under a government, he should not act as if he IS "untouchable". The same thing happened recently in the U.S., where NBA players got into a major brawl. What did the NBA do??They suspended 1 player for the rest of the season. His teammates were served some suspensions as well.
    All in all, this kind of incident could happen again(i'm sure it has happened before, whether there are players who actually spoke out or not), but hopefully through this incident everyone involved can learn something valuable. It's already quite embarrassing enough for people to hear that the quarrel was over misunderstanding on money issue...And hope Taufik will mend fences with the rest of PBSI management and prepare for the AE in 2 weeks(sigh)..
     
    #16 ctjcad, Feb 17, 2005
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2005
  17. hcyong

    hcyong Regular Member

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    Taufik should grow up. He is rich beyond the dreams of most of his countrymen. To him, US$22 K is not that big a deal, especially when he is already assured of another US$22 K. US$ 22 K means more for an organisation like PBSI than for an individual like him. In fact, he should donate his own US$22 K to his less fortunate countrymen.

    To me, he is the badminton player of the year only when playing on court, and even then, perhaps only in the Olympics.
     
    #17 hcyong, Feb 17, 2005
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2005
  18. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

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    Maybe it is this single-mindedness of seeing things and pursuing them as "mine and mine alone", without being distracted by the needs and feelings of others, that makes him such a great player, not a nice player.
     
  19. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    there are many many nice and great players out there. Nice and great can go hand in hand
     
  20. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Sometimes we need to understand why Taufik behaves the way he did. Most champions are not ordinary fellows, we need to realize that. And Taufik is more than an ordinary champion. He is the current Olympic Champ! And despite the trials and tribulations he's undergone the last few years, Taufik managed to pull himself together at the most important time and train hard to achieve success. Yes, sometimes his behaviour on and off the court left much to be desired, but we really have no clue as to what he'd gone through. It's lonely at the top.

    We know that in the past the PBSI had not been altogether blameless and some great players have to give excuses to venture into greener pastures overseas. A case in point is Tony G.

    Taufik has devoted his entire youth to becoming a champion and his determination has paid off against all odds! Perhaps Taufik sometimes feels that he is being persecuted for no good reason and he has to vent his frustration to remain sane. He needs help but sometimes found none forthcoming. Remember how dejected he was when his mentor and coach Mulyo went to Singapore to coach Ronald Susilo and how he finally got back his coach who was instrumental in his Olympic victory?

    We should know that a sportsperson's career is relatively short. Taufik cannot expect to remain a champion forever and what can the PBSI offer him after his illustrious playing days? Maybe those in the know can update us on how well Indonesia's past champions have done after retirement? Great names like Hartono (now re-elected to the IBF Council), Liem Swee King, Alan and Susi, (Tong G, we know something of), and others?

    Is Taufik trying to tell us that what the PBSI is now doing is not enough? :confused:
     

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