Business, govt must improve athletes' welfare

Business, govt must improve athletes' welfare

Legislators have approved a long-waited sports bill, which, among
other things, requires the government to provide pensions to
athletes who compete for their country. The Jakarta Post asked
some Jakarta people for their views on the issue.

Hamidah, 35, is a public school teacher in Pasar Minggu, South
Jakarta. She lives with her husband and children in Cilandak,
South Jakarta.

My husband is a former player with the national soccer team,
but he just ended up working as a small trader in Pasar
Minggu market. Almost nothing is left from what he earned during
his 10-year involvement in soccer.

Now, I don't want my children to pursue sporting careers as I
don't want them to end up like their father. I believe that many
parents would agree with me.

This partly explains why our sporting prowess continues to
decline. We are producing fewer and fewer champions because many
talented children and young people have to opt for other careers
outside sport.

Suryanto Hadikusumo, 42, is the owner of a construction
consultancy firm. He lives with his family in Kemang, South
Jakarta.

The business community and government should work hand in hand
to improve the welfare of athletes. The government only has
limited money to provide adequate benefits to athletes, while the
business community needs to be encouraged by the government to
invest in sport.

In this way, I think that sport could become a huge industry
in Indonesia, just like in other countries. The sports industry
would then automatically provide greater rewards to talented
athletes as more companies would be involved in the sector.

In turn, more talented people would choose to pursue careers
in sport, and thus we would produce more champions.

--The Jakarta Post