Arrows aim for peace in archery meet
By Arief Suryobuwono
JAKARTA (JP): Arrows can harbinger enmity, but can also herald reconciliation.
The run-up to the 38th World Archery Championships here was marked with a diplomatic dispute over the participation of Israel and Portugal, two countries which have no diplomatic ties with the host country.
The row finished with Israel opting out of the world archery meet and Portugal accepted in along with the other participating countries.
Lisbon broke off diplomatic ties with Jakarta following the integration of East Timor in 1976.
"We decided not to participate when we heard from the World Archery Body (FITA) on June 21 that Indonesia demanded that we come under the name of `FITA A' and conceal our national identity during the championship events," Nuno Simoes, president of the Portuguese Archery Association, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
"Then we sent letters stating our stance to the Indonesian Archery Association, FITA's president and the Portuguese Olympic Committee. We asked that committee to inform the International Olympic Committee of the restrictions," Simoes said. "We also wrote to our foreign ministry," he added.
Despite seemingly dismal chances of taking part in the meet, Portugal kept preparing its archers and even completed and returned the final application forms.
"Principally, we're always prepared to participate. So, while we were trying to solve the problem, we were preparing our archers as if nothing had happened," Simoes said.
"We returned the preliminary entry forms on time. But we sent several final application forms because there were changes in both the number and names of our athletes whom we plan to field in the Jakarta championships," he explained.
President Soeharto is scheduled to officially open the week- long archery meet today. As of yesterday, 47 teams had arrived. The organizing committee is expecting another nine teams.
Originally Simoes planned to field four male archers, four female archers and two officials. But in the selection process only three of the archers met the minimum score of 1,230 required by the Portuguese Archery Association.
The three are female archer Ana De Sousa, first place winner in last year's national championships, a senior male archer, Joao Freitas, and a junior male archer, Nuno Pombo.
"If we had not come to Jakarta, we would have had to take the European and Mediterranean qualification archery tournament in order to get a ticket to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta," Simoes said.
Simoes's guarded optimism paid off. "On July 12 or 13 I was informed by our foreign ministry that a representative of the Indonesian government had contacted our representative in the United Nations, informing us that all of the restrictions had been lifted and that we would be treated just like the other participating countries."
That there were no more restrictions was confirmed by FITA's president, James Easton, and also by the president of the Indonesia-Portugal Friendship Association, Simoes said.
More confirmations later came from the Indonesian Archery Association and the organizing committee through phone calls and facsimile messages, he added.
"So, we came here on July 28. We were granted visas upon arrival," Simoes said. "I hope that one day sports will once and for all be separated from politics," he added. (arf)