Indonesia wants 25 sports in the 19th SEA Games
Indonesia wants 25 sports in the 19th SEA Games
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will propose 25 sports to be competed for in the 19th Southeast Asian Games to be held here next year.
Spokesman of the National Sports Council, Ishadi SK, said at a press conference after the council's plenary meeting yesterday that the medal events will comprise the two compulsory sports and 18 out of the 25 secondary sports.
Five optional sports will complete the rooster, but Ishadi declined to mention them.
Missing from the host's list were hockey, equestrian events and rugby football, three sports which offered medals in the previous SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand last year. Indonesia opted out of hockey and rugby, and returned home empty handed from the equestrian in the last Games.
"We will put forward our proposal at the SEA Games Council members meeting in August," Ishadi said. Representatives of all 10 participating countries will decide the sports to be contested in the 19th SEA Games during the meeting.
The compulsory sports are track and field and swimming. Ishadi hinted that badminton, archery, judo, rowing and weight lifting were favored among the 18 secondary sports picked for the upcoming Games.
Indonesia looks poised to bring karate and wrestling, two secondary sports it masters, back into the SEA Games next year after they were dismissed at Chiang Mai.
Ishadi said that lack of facilities and popularity were behind the council's decision to drop hockey, the equestrian events and rugby.
"We are not nominating hockey because we cannot provide an artificial grass pitch," Ishadi he said. "Neither can we provide good enough horses for the equestrian competitions."
Ishadi said that rugby is not a popular sport here, played mainly by expatriates. "Indonesia also does not have many rugby pitches," Ishadi said.
Ishadi did not mention the number of Indonesian athletes to be fielded in the biennial sporting meet next year. "It depends on the national selections and the national training program," he said.
Chairman
Earlier in the day a ministerial meeting led by the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas named Wismoyo Arismunandar, chief of the sports council, chairman of 19th SEA Games Organizing Committee.
"Based on our experience in the past, the chairman of the council deserves the top post on the committee," Azwar said after the meeting, which was attended by eight ministers.
A former chairman of the council, the late Hamengku Buwono IX, chaired the organizing committee of the first SEA Games hosted by Indonesia in 1977, but in 1987 the government named Jakarta Governor the chairman.
"The Jakarta Governor is now very busy with his duty as the chairman of the National Games Organizing Committee and with the general election next year," he said.
The 14th National Games are scheduled for this September.
Suyono Yahya, assistant to the minister, told a post-meeting press conference that the government welcomes participation from the private sector in helping to host the SEA Games.
"The private sectors will probably have to provide an athletes' village, transportation and logistics for contingents from the 10 countries," he said. "We expect to receive proposals in one month's time," he added.
Suyono said that private investors will receive compensation from the government for their involvement in the Games. "Tax reduction is one of the compensations," Suyono said.
Both Azwar and Suyono said that the meeting asked the State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports to re-calculate the budget for the SEA Games which was set at Rp 70 billion (US$31.1 million).
"The predicted budget has to be counted in detail," Azwar said.
Suyono said that the facilities used for the National Games will have to be reconstructed according to international standards, so they can be used for the SEA Games. (05)