JAKARTA – The 2022 Indonesian Masters organising committee is investigating cases of Malaysian and Thai badminton players who came down with suspected food poisoning after having breakfast at a hotel here yesterday.
A spokesman of the All Indonesia Badminton Association centre manager, Broto Happy, said they sympathised with the victims and took a serious view of the incident, which they found out through social media.
The affected players or team managers have not lodged any official reports with the organising committee so far, he said in a statement today.
He said the affected players were treated at hospitals which had nothing to do with the organising committee or the official tournament hotels.
The dining places of players and officials have been declared off-limits to hotel guests from today to prevent a recurrence of the incident, he said.
After liaising with the organising committee, the Badminton World Federation urged team managers to remind their players to be cautious when ordering food from outside the hotel or consuming certain types of food.
Meanwhile, Broto said laboratory tests showed that the players who received treatment had probably eaten unhygienic food but there was no food poisoning.
“In cases of food poisoning, the effects are immediate,” said Dr Grace Corlesa Joselini, the tournament doctor.
She said players staying at the two official tournament hotels are free to order food online or eat at nearby restaurants.
Online media reports last night said five Malaysian and Thai players had sought treatment at hospitals for food poisoning.
Badminton Association of Malaysia doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky, when contacted, confirmed the incident, saying, “They were allowed to return to the hotel but are still weak.” – Bernama, June 11, 2022
