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Indonesia: Mia Plans Move To Rotterdam; PBSI Says No

** This NEW SHUTTLENWS report is presented by YANG YANG Badminton Products and their Ontario (Canada) agents - SHAH Enterprises **

July 31, 1999 (NEW SHUTTLENWS) - Mia Audina, the Indonesian badminton women's singles star who, as a young 16-year old, won an Olympic silver meda= l in 1996, plans to move to Rotterdam, the Netherlands to join her husband of four months, Tylio Lobman. Lobman, who is of Indonesian descent and is a native of the South American nation of Surinam as well as a citizen of the Netherlands, has obtained an excellent job in the Dutch city where his paren= ts make their home.

Audina also wants to leave Jakarta to help ease the emotional pain she wa= s undergoing with the death of her mother, Lanny Susilawati, in late April. Th= e Indonesian star player had been on leave from training and competition becau= se of her mother's passing away and had spent the past few months in Rotterdam with her husband and his family.

Audina met with officials of PBSI, the Indonesian badminton asociation th= is past Tuesday to discuss her plans. At the meeting, she proposed that she wou= ld live and train in the Netherlands but would continue to compete as a member of the Indonesian team.

Indonesian badminton officials reacted negatively to Audina's proposal an= d gave her an ultimatum at the meeting - remain in Indonesia to train and compete for Indonesia or resign from the national team.

On Wednesday, PBSI announced that Audina had been removed from the nation= al team because she had chosen to move to the Netherlands. The Indonesian association said that it did not believe that Mia could train properly outsi= de of the national training center, specially with the extra poundage she had gained during her several months off, and that without the proper training, she would not be allowed to represent Indonesia internationally.

According to Audina, the PBSI had acted prematurely in announcing her rem= oval from the national team because she had not yet decided whether to stay in Indonesia with the national team or to move to the Netherlands. Audina said that she had expected that PBSI would agree to her proposal and that the PBS= I response was not one that she had expected. She also said that it was not possible for her to decide in less than 24 hours.

Should Audina choose to leave the Indonesian team and move to Rotterdam, = she indicated she could train with the Dutch national squad. She also said she had many offers to play in Europe. However, without the blessing of PBSI, sh= e would be taking a long leave from international competition.

Under current International Badminton Federation (IBF) rules, Audina woul= d not be able to compete in tournaments sanctioned by the IBF as a member of another national badminton association until two years have elapsed since sh= e last represented Indonesia. She also would not be able to participate in the Olympic Games for another country until she becomes a citizen of that countr= y and obtains clearance from the Indonesian National Sports Council, since she had played in the 1996 Olympic Games for Indonesia.

(yyn/ds)