Sepak takraw may appear in Olympics<\/p>\n
By Dwi Atmanta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Southeast Asian traditional sport sepak takraw
\nreceived a major boost yesterday in its bid to make its Olympic
\ndebut in Sydney in 2000.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the International Sepak Takraw
\nFederation, Abdul Halim, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the
\norganization would apply to the Sydney Olympic Games Organizing
\nCommittee (SOGOC) for the sport to be given exhibition status.<\/p>\n
\"We are asking the SOGOC to allow sepak takraw to appear in
\nSydney as a cultural exhibition,\" Halim said.<\/p>\n
The news come two days after Indonesia's state minister of
\nyouth affairs and sports, Hayono Isman, said he wanted
\ntraditional Southeast Asian sports to be played on a wider stage.<\/p>\n
Two leading Australian sports officials confirmed their
\nassistance for the campaign here yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Northern Territory's sports, recreation and education
\nminister, Peter Adamson, and the secretary-general of the
\nAustralian Olympic Committee, Craig McLatchiy, met with the
\nfederation's president Charook Arirachekranh, vice president
\nBeddu Amang and Halim after watching SEA Games sepak takraw
\nmatches at the East Jakarta Sports Hall.<\/p>\n
Halim said that during the meeting the Australian sports
\nofficials promised to lobby fellow Australian sports ministers to
\nsupport the federation's bid.<\/p>\n
The federation's top trio will visit each of the ministers
\nearly next year to further enhance their efforts.<\/p>\n
Sepak takraw joined the then Southeast Asian Peninsula (SEAP)
\nGames in 1965 and has since been one of the Games regular medal
\nevents.<\/p>\n
It was contested in the last two Asian Games, in Beijing,
\nChina, in 1990 and in Hiroshima, Japan. in 1994.<\/p>\n
The sport will make its third successive Asian Games
\nappearance in Bangkok next year, with four gold medals on offer
\nafter the organizing committee decided to introduce a women's
\ndivision.<\/p>\n
Halim said the federation would also suggest the Pusan 2004
\nAsian Games Organizing Committee keep sepak takraw in the
\nquadrennial games.<\/p>\n
But he dismissed the possibility of demanding medal event
\nstatus at the Sydney Olympics, saying that it would take a long
\ntime and much effort before that could be achieved.<\/p>\n
He said sepak takraw was now played in 21 countries, including
\nthe United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, but that was not
\nenough to give the sport a place in the Olympics.<\/p>\n
An International Olympic Committee rule says that a sport must
\nbe played in at least 55 countries to make it t0 the world's
\nbiggest sporting festival.<\/p>\n
The sepak takraw competition features a women's division in
\nthis year SEA Games for the first time, taking the number of gold
\nmedals at stake to four. Each division provides two golds in team
\nand regu events.<\/p>\n
While criticism has mounted over many last-minute hitches in
\nthe Games preparations, Halim paid tribute to the organizing
\ncommittee for its all-out efforts to make the sporting event run
\non time.<\/p>\n
\"We're lucky that the Games was not postponed although we know
\nIndonesia is now facing economic problems. The opening ceremony
\nwas the best I had ever seen.\"<\/p>",
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