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)