KONI consoles sidelined athletes
KONI consoles sidelined athletes
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council asked athletes yesterday who will miss the 18th Southeast Asian Games to continue their training program.
"We don't think that the sidelined athletes are worse than their lucky teammates. The main problem is that we cannot take them all," Indonesian SEA Games project officer, Arie Sudewo, said.
"We still need them in other events, such as the Olympic Games next year," he said.
The council has shortlisted 455 sportsmen and women out of the 816 called up to undergo the centralized training program for the Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They will represent Indonesia in 26 sports during the Dec. 9 through 17 event.
The number of athletes excludes the judo team which is expected to complete its selection by Monday. The council will announce the national SEA Games team line-up on Wednesday.
The 18th SEA Games Organizing Committee has set Nov. 26 as the deadline for registering completed entry forms.
Controversy marred the national selection, however, when several big names were missing from the list.
Boxer Hermensen Ballo, King's Cup and Asian Games bronze medalist, SEA Games decathlon defending champion Julius Uwe, world badminton champion Hariyanto Arbi and Perry Sandria, top scorer of the soccer league last season, surprisingly fell victims to the strict selection.
"The decision to pick or drop certain athletes is up to each sport organization. We cannot intervene," Arie said.
Indonesia vows to break the Thailand jinx in Chiang Mai. The council has said Indonesia has to win at least 100 gold medals if it wants to secure top billing.
Arie said that President Soeharto is expected to receive the national SEA Games athletes before they leave for Chiang Mai. Noted Moslem preacher Zainuddin MZ will also brief them about the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Meanwhile, Arie's deputy, Mohammad Sarengat, said that Indonesia has drafted a proposal to enlarge the number of sports to 35 in the 1997 Games here.
"We will put forward this proposal during the SEA Games Federation council meeting in Chiang Mai," Sarengat said yesterday.
Sarengat, who is also the federation's secretary, criticized Thailand for obeying the SEA Games rules when it announced the number of sports to be competed in Chiang Mai. The upcoming Games has only 28 medal events plus an exhibition sport.
"In addition to the two compulsory sports, we will pick all 25 sports commonly competed in international multi-event meets plus eight miscellaneous sports," Sarengat said.
Compulsory sports comprise track and field and swimming. The 25 sports include Olympic events and others regularly contested in Asian Games. There are 19 miscellaneous sports, which include traditional ones, but a host is allowed only to adopt a maximum of eight. (amd)