Blame game begins for SEAG defeat
Musthofid and Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Another day, another loss, another beating for national sports pride.
The national under 23 men's soccer team fell in the semifinals on Friday, outclassed in a 1-3 defeat by reigning champion Thailand in Bacolod City at the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The loss of Indonesia -- the last country to win the soccer title at the regional multisport championships in 1991 before Thailand began its domination of the competition -- underscored the decline of national athletes.
With 29 gold as of Friday, the national contingent was struggling in fifth place in the overall medal standings, a position it is likely to retain when the Games wrap on Monday.
It would be the lowest finish for the country since its winning debut 28 years ago at the Kuala Lumpur Games.
On Friday morning, chef de mission Djoko Pramono admitted that it would be impossible for the national contingent to reach its pre-Games target of second place overall, but told the public that there was no need to "go berserk" about the failure.
He offered a host of reasons -- from a lack of preparation of athletes to poor coaching standards -- for the comedown of the nine-time overall champion,Antara news service said.
A major reason was the better preparation of other countries, he said on a visit to the chess competition in Tagaytay City, outside Manila.
"Other countries prepared their athletes years in advance, while we only did it for a few months," he said, adding that national sport was a "complicated" issue.
"But if you look at athletes in the (elite training program) Indonesia Awakens from the past 18 months, it's clear they can compete with their opponents."
He also faulted coaches, saying only a few of those in the Philippines were up to international standard, including in being able to follow developments in their sport.
"Most of them have never been online or seldom do so," Djoko said, noting that a major hindrance to their gaining knowledge was poor English skills.
He took heart from the outstanding performance of athletes in karate and cycling -- two of the 17 sports in the elite program -- and said there were plans to expand it to other "traditionally run" sports.
For former top 20 tennis player Yayuk Basuki, who competed in her first SEA Games at the age of 14 in 1985 and collected three gold over the years, professional leadership is the key needed to putting national sports back on track.
"To me, they must have a plan -- they can't just stop working after the Games are over," the former top 20 player told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
"In my opinion, we have to be more professional. There is no fixed plan right now, and we always blame something."
Yayuk believed it was unfair to blame the coaches -- "they weren't as good as they are now 20 years ago, but we were winning ..." -- but it would take going back to the basics to find future champions.
"In the last five years, it (the decline) has been really clear to me. We need to get a talent scouting program together for schools and somebody to put it together from city to city."
Djoko refused comment later on in the afternoon after the nation took only five gold from 34 events. As for State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Adhyaksa Dault, he has been "busy with his state agenda ... he is expected in the next couple of days", former badminton champion Icuk Sugiarto told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
By that time, Indonesia will be licking its wounds.