Fresh thinking sought for new leadership
Fresh thinking sought for new leadership
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prior to the Indonesian Sports Council's (KONI) congress to elect
a new chairman, officials from various sports organizations urged
KONI to do away with the fund-raising capacity as a prerequisite
for a candidate.
"We have been stuck in an old-fashioned paradigm, wherein a
KONI chairman must be capable of raising funds when Indonesia
prepares to take part in competitions. That should change, now we
are looking to the next congress," Steve Tengko, an official of
the Indonesian Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and Weightlifting
(PABBSI) said in a one-day discussion here on Thursday.
The KONI-sponsored discussion, organized by Jakarta Sports
Journalists Association (SIWO Jaya) at the Hilton Hotel, was
attended by representatives from 20 SIWO provincial chapters and
11 of the 40 KONI-affiliated sports organizations.
The requisite capability of raising money is one of the six
items that must be possessed by a KONI chairman as stipulated in
its guidance book.
Steve said he did not totally disagree with the issue. "I just
want to remove it from the guidance book. Because it can be
misleading.
"We must wake up with a new model. I agree that money is a
must in sports development. But it's not all that we need. The
most crucial thing is the leadership," Steve said.
However, the opinion about fund-raising issues turned out to
be split among the participants with those coming from the
provinces insisting on its significance and its stipulations.
"It's still essential. How can we rely on the chairman if he
is unable to raise money," Frans Ohoiwutun, from Papua, told The
Jakarta Post.
The discussion was an attempt to look for new insights to
revitalize the already existing requirements about the KONI
chairmanship, which will be submitted as an input to the
congress.
The congress will be held in Jakarta from Feb. 25 through Feb.
27 next year, during which the forum will elect a new chairman to
succeed the incumbent Wismoyo Arismunandar.
The next leadership of KONI is considered to be crucial in the
challenge of international sports, given the current downward
trend of the national sports signified particularly by
Indonesia's dismal performance in the past three years both in
the Southeast Asian Games (SEA) and Asian Games.
On each occasion, the athletes preparation seemed to depend on
how well KONI could collect money.
Joko Pramono, from the Indonesian Off-road Federation (IOF),
shared Steve's opinion, warning against KONI's excessive
dependency on fund-raising campaigns.
"A KONI chairman must be able to raise funds?" Joko queried.
"KONI is not a commercial entity, is it? His dealings with
fund-raising activities could take much of his time he should be
solely focused on sports development," Joko said.