Sporting links to boost Indonesia-Portugal relations<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Portugal is offering Indonesia its expertise and experience in
\nsports in a move aimed at bolstering diplomatic ties between the
\ntwo countries on a people-to-people level.<\/p>\n
The offer was conveyed by Portuguese Sports and Youth
\nMinister, Jose Lello, during his three-day visit to Indonesia,
\nwhere he met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Indonesian
\nsports officials.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia Ana Gomes,
\nLello met Transportation Minister Agum Gumelar, who also chairs
\nthe Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), and Wismoyo
\nArismunandar, the chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI),
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"We want to offer our expertise and cooperation in sports,
\nsuch as by sending our experts here for seminars or training
\nsessions with Indonesian coaches,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"This way we can work together to improve the quality of
\nIndonesian sports.\"<\/p>\n
Lello pointed out that sports were now more complex than in
\nthe past and that more disciplines were now involved.<\/p>\n
\"There are many aspects such as nutrition, physiology and
\ncoaching methods. And the current global focus is on anti-doping
\nprinciples,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I can't elaborate on the details of the cooperation because
\nthis is only the first contact. But we are preparing protocols to
\ncreate cooperation projects.\"<\/p>\n
Lello is the second Portuguese minister to visit Indonesia
\nafter Foreign Minister Jaime Gama in 1999, when both countries
\nagreed to restore their diplomatic ties.<\/p>\n
Portugal cut its ties with Indonesia in 1975 following
\nIndonesia's integration of Portuguese Timor, now known as East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Gomes, the first Portuguese ambassador to Jakarta
\nsince the restoration of diplomatic ties, said the minister's
\nvisit represented a new way forward in promoting both countries.<\/p>\n
\"We must forget the mutual ignorance of both countries over
\nthe past 25 years and promote a better understanding, which can
\nbe acquired through cultural exchanges as well as sports,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Portugal, one of the powerhouses of European soccer, has
\nqualified for the 2002 World Cup finals, to be co-hosted by Japan
\nand South Korea. Portugal has been drawn in group D together with
\nSouth Korea, the U.S. and Poland.<\/p>\n
\"We are in a rather comfortable group and I am pretty sure
\nthat the Portuguese national team can reach the quarterfinals,\"
\nsaid Lello.<\/p>\n
Portugal faces a busy soccer schedule over the next few years,
\nparticularly when it hosts the 2004 EuroCup. A semifinalist in
\nthe 2000 tournament, Portugal beat out Austria, Spain and Hungary
\nto win the right to host the prestigious event.<\/p>\n
\"We are building seven new stadiums and renovating three
\nothers, with a total budget of US$1 billion. The project will be
\nfunded mainly by the private sector with the government
\ncontributing 25 percent of the project funds,\" said Lello.<\/p>\n
\"Our actual bid was only to provide six or eight stadiums but
\nthen we saw it as an opportunity to have an equal spread of
\ndevelopment in various regions.\"<\/p>\n
\"So each region will have its own stadium to be proud of.\"<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sporting-links-to-boost-indonesia-portugal-relations-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }