Money is the panacea for sports complaints<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Money, it seems, is now believed by the
\nIndonesian sports authorities to be the elixir and tonic for the
\nmany ailments befalling the country's sports.<\/p>\n
This has been made much of in particular since the unexpected,
\npainful loss of Indonesia's long-standing Southeast Asian Games
\ndominance to Thailand at the 18th SEA Games in Chiang Mai,
\nThailand, last month.<\/p>\n
Setia Novanto, treasurer of the National Sports Council
\n(KONI), reiterated what Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
\nHayono Isman had said that it was money which played a pivotal
\nrole in Thailand's SEA Games success.<\/p>\n
\"Thailand spent around Rp 1.2 to 1.8 trillion to train their
\nathletes for the Games, while we spent just Rp 13 billion,\"
\nNovanto told The Jakarta Post during a break of KONI's plenary
\ncongress which ended on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Hayono on Monday said that Indonesia's flop in Chiang Mai was
\n\"understandable given the different amounts of money the two
\ncountries had spent in preparing their athletes.\"<\/p>\n
A total of 121 representatives of all provincial sports
\nbodies, sports and sports-related organizations under KONI
\nsupervision attended the annual congress.<\/p>\n
In its fund-raising proposal, the congress among other things
\nagreed that levying more tax on cigarettes would be appropriate
\nas a means to increase sports funding and at the same time
\ndiscourage smokers.<\/p>\n
Novanto said that for the 19th SEA Games, to which Jakarta
\nwill play host next year, KONI will still have to rely on its
\nspecial staff for funds. The staff, placed directly under KONI
\nchairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, consists of the country's most
\nprominent tycoons.<\/p>\n
The other financial sources will include Jaspora, a new sports
\nfund-raising concept introduced by Hayono recently. Under the
\nscheme, the government will take three to five percent of money
\nspent on the country's advertising expenditure to cover most of
\nKONI's money-hungry programs.<\/p>\n
\"We need a body to implement Jaspora. Discussions on setting
\nup the body are still going on,\" Novanto said. Yet, even if
\nJaspora goes into action, Novanto added, \"KONI will be still in
\nneed of financial aid from its special staff because this would
\nbe good for their image and help activate the country's economy.\"<\/p>\n
From its special staff, KONI acquired Rp 13 billion to finance
\nthe preparations for the 18th SEA Games two months before the
\nGames began on Dec. 9. Soon after the Games were over on Dec. 17,
\nKONI turned to its special staff again, asking them to pay for
\nthe bonuses KONI had promised to its athletes who won medals at
\nthe Games.<\/p>\n
Novanto added that the bonuses in question, in the form of
\ninsurance policy, will be formally given on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
In the future, each member of the staff will be appointed as
\nfinancier for a certain sport. Thus, they will be responsible
\nfor providing bonuses to medal-winning athletes of the respective
\nsport under their care, Novanto said.<\/p>\n
Many worry that if KONI maintains the habit of exploiting its
\nspecial staff, the staff will soon suffer from donation fatigue.<\/p>\n
Novanto said that Jaspora and the other forms of partnership
\nwith the business community will hopefully relieve the special
\nstaff's burden. Moreover there are strong indications that the
\ngovernment may be ready to turn its current priority of
\nalleviating poverty into a priority for sports development in ten
\nyears' time, as Hayono earlier also said. \"This will certainly
\nhelp reduce our dependence on donors,\" Novanto said.<\/p>\n
Despite the need for more and more money, however, Novanto
\nsaid that accurate accounts are needed to tell how much money is
\nreally needed by each sports organization or each provincial
\nchapter under KONI for the training programs of their athletes.
\n\"Thus, the amounts needed for so-and-so sports projects are still
\nbased on rough estimates, for example, the Rp 50 billion a year
\nwhich the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports estimates for
\ntraining the national athletes.\" (arf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/money-is-the-panacea-for-sports-complaints-1447893297",
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