Soeharto's Olympic vision<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto wants Indonesia to host both
\nthe 2006 Asian Games and 2008 Olympics.<\/p>\n
\"The President asked me to assess the possibility of Indonesia
\nhosting the two international major sport events,\" Minister of
\nSports and Youth Affairs Hayono Isman said after meeting the
\nPresident yesterday.<\/p>\n
Hayono said Soeharto was confident both the Asian Games and
\nthe Olympics could be held here as the economy was expanding and
\nabsolute poverty had almost been eradicated.<\/p>\n
\"It is not yet final that Indonesia will bid for the two
\nevents because the feasibility of it still needs to be
\ninvestigated,\" Hayono said.<\/p>\n
When asked whether Indonesia could host the two events
\nconsidering the decline of Indonesia's standing in many sports,
\nthe minister said this trend could be reversed if the private
\nsector played a bigger role in developing sports across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"The private sector is definitely required to help sporting
\ndevelopment in the country, and to host the SEA Games, Asian
\nGames and Olympics. The government will invite the private sector
\nto cooperate more in developing sports in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The coming SEA Games will become the benchmark for how the
\nprivate sector can help develop sports,\" Hayono said.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the minister also reported on the plans to
\nhost the Youth National Coordination meeting from Feb. 25 to Feb.
\n27, and the National Sports Convention from Feb. 27 to Feb. 28.
\nHayono said he was hoping Soeharto would attend the two meetings.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the two meetings, Hayono said, was to review
\nthe development programs for youth activities and sports
\nundertaken in the past three years as well as to gather input for
\nthe 1998 State Policy Guidelines.<\/p>\n
Problems<\/p>\n
Hayono explained to the President that the sports convention
\nwas urgently needed in order to overcome problems in the youth
\nand sports sectors.<\/p>\n
\"Based on facts and the data we have compiled, the physical
\ncondition of students, workers and the young is low. The
\ndevelopment of sports is also not coordinated well and is often
\nduplicated.<\/p>\n
\"These facts include the declining number of medals and
\nnational athletes' poor performances in the 1994 Asian Games, the
\n1995 SEA Games and the 1996 Olympics. The people are disappointed
\nby the poor results,\" Hayono said.<\/p>\n
At the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Indonesia only managed to
\nfinish in second place and at the 1994 Asian Games, Indonesia
\ndropped from seventh to 11th position. At last year's Olympics,
\nIndonesia took only one gold medal, courtesy of badminton doubles
\nstars Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagdja. At the Barcelona Olympics
\nIndonesia won two golds, one silver and two bronzes, all in
\nbadminton.<\/p>\n
According to Hayono, many fundamental problems and constraints
\nexist. He said that although schools and universities included
\nsport in their curriculums, it was not in line with the guidance
\nset by the government.<\/p>\n
\"How can we improve the nation's sporting achievements if the
\ncurriculum in schools and universities does not comply with the
\npattern and guidance set by the government?\" the minister asked.<\/p>\n
But Hayono said the biggest obstacle to improved sporting
\nperformances was the lack of motivators, such as qualified
\ncoaches and organizers.<\/p>\n
\"We need to increase the number of our sports facilities if we
\nwant to develop sports. We should concentrate on this first,\" he
\nstressed. (lnt)<\/p>",
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