KONI discusses three fund-raising proposals

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) will carefully weigh three proposals on fund raising for sports development after being burned by the flak over a program proposed last year.

KONI's official in charge of media affairs and promotion, Enny Hardjanto, said on Friday that only one of the three proposals had been discussed.

"The other two proposals will be brought up in a closed meeting on Wednesday. Up to today, I still can't give further information on which one will be selected by KONI," she said.

Enny said KONI decided to arrange a fund-raising program in an effort to be financially independent and to eschew requesting the government to fund sports development.

"We will be very careful to decide which proposal will be elected because we have to consult with the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) and the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI). If our program was judged to be gambling, it would be very difficult for KONI to raise funds in the future," she said.

KONI has learned a valuable lesson from a program called Sports Awareness Campaign (TPO), which it proposed in July 1998 but was condemned by MUI as gambling. YLKI also called for the rejection of TPO because it said it encouraged people to gamble.

TPO's operator Dali Taher, which worked together with an American consortium, had expressed optimism that it would be able to raise about Rp 100 billion (US$13.75 million) per year. The campaign was scheduled to run for 10 years.

Enny said KONI would study the details of the proposals before announcing the selected fund-raising program after the post- fasting month holiday of Idul Fitri in January.

"We still have to study the proposals and explain them to KONI's top officials. We also have to familiarize the program with KONI's provincial chapters in a national congress next year," she said.

"We want the entire sports community to understand exactly what we will do to raise funds. We don't want any controversy to come up after we launch the program."

"By the time we launch the program, we will issue an updated accountability report on KONI's website."

Enny said KONI needed Rp 10 billion annually to run its activities, including staging competitions for sports development.

"The money is used to hold competitions and also to renovate sports facilities in our chapters, and to enhance the welfare of the sports community, including athletes, coaches, referees and officials." (ivy/yan)