World Cup and Indonesia<\/p>\n
When the World Cup games were held last month, twice a day
\nwere they televised on RCTI which, being continued day by day as
\nroutine events, very rapidly became taken for granted. Now that
\nthe World Cup tournament is over, we feel that we are missing the
\ngames very badly, as the nostalgic memory of the spectacular
\nmatches and their beautiful goals is but a memory.<\/p>\n
The July 1 edition of Kompas had an editorial comment under
\nthe title: Sport too (like language) is expressive of the
\nnation's character. The gist of it was the editorial was paying
\ntribute to World Cup 2002 in that the character of the nations
\nconspicuously can be perceived through the performances on the
\ngreen field. How the players struggled for victory, how they
\ncelebrated victory and how they accepted defeat are exemplary
\npointers indicating a nations' character.<\/p>\n
Under a succinct title A memorable World Cup, the Post of July
\n2 commemorated the world soccer event with an editorial that was
\nbalanced in tone and substance. To the questions: where does
\nIndonesia fit in all this extravagance of the 2002 World Cup
\nfiesta, meaningfully the editorial gave a terse and crisp
\nresponse. It said that the World Cup has provided the people with
\na momentary aberration to console them from the problems that
\nhave beset the country for the last four years.<\/p>\n
Reading the commentaries, it turned out that it gave the merit
\nto find the possible answer to any pertinent question or problem
\nbeing faced by the public at large. A melancholic voice was heard
\ntime and again in a commercial tip for an energy beverage on
\nRCTI, posing the question: When can Indonesia join the World Cup?
\nThis question must not be dismissed lightly as mere wishful
\nthinking, but must be accepted wholesale as a genuine expression
\nof aspiration -- a vying for international status and prestige in
\nthe field of sport, in this case soccer.<\/p>\n
It turned out that according to a lecturer at Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity, A. Tony Prasetiantono, in his article in Kompas of
\nJuly 1, entitled World Cup in Indonesia 2030?, the quadrennial
\nsoccer event, for national budgetary reasons, could not possibly
\nbe realized until the year 2038.<\/p>\n
According to the article, South Korea and Japan each spent
\nUS$4.4 billion (or Rp 38 trillion) to host World Cup 2002. This
\nmeans three more decades roughly will be needed for Indonesia to
\nplay host to the prestigious World Cup soccer tournament.<\/p>\n
S. SUHAEDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/world-cup-and-indonesia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }