KONI gets Bank Mandiri sponsorship

KONI gets Bank Mandiri sponsorship

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) signed a Rp
10 billion (US$900,000) sponsorship with state Bank Mandiri on
Friday for the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games training
program.

The bank -- the only sponsor for the Indonesian contingent --
is also providing a Rp 5 billion syndicated fund.

Bank Mandiri president E.C.W. Neloe said the sponsorship also
served as a promotion for the bank, which had sponsored the
national soccer league for two seasons.

"We expect 200 percent benefit from the sponsorship. We will
field officials to see if Bank Mandiri is promoted during the SEA
Games event," Neloe said after signing the deal with KONI
chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar at Bank Mandiri's headquarters.

To avoid any breaching of the sponsorship agreement, Neloe
said Bank Mandiri staff would observe the training program and
follow the contingent.

"This is a promotional event. Bank Mandiri staff will check if
KONI has our logo on the contingent's attire or had included our
name in TV promotions."

He also said the fund would be audited before the end of the
year.

"KONI has its own auditing program and external auditors. I
will also observe the auditing and study the results," said
Neloe, who is also KONI's vice treasurer.

"We don't expect much from the audit, but we will calculate
the profits from this sponsorship by ourselves. But I'm sure KONI
will be cooperative."

Wismoyo expressed hope that Bank Mandiri would also help
finance the training program for the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan,
South Korea.

However, Neloe said the bank would study KONI's performance in
this first agreement before making future decisions.

"We will see if the current deal is profitable before deciding
whether to sponsor in future."

Wismoyo described the difficulties faced by the SEA Games
training crew in seeking financial support when the country was
hit by the financial crisis.

"I have been under pressure preparing for the SEA Games. But
this is an opportunity to boost our self-esteem. Our problem is
we have no money.

"We could have decided to prepare our athletes only in the
last three months, but the results would be disappointing, like
in the 1999 SEA Games.

Indonesia finished third in the 1999 Games in Brunei
Darussalam after archrivals Thailand and Malaysia.

This year, KONI is aiming to improve its overall standing by
taking home between 60 and 100 golds out of 391 gold medals at
stake at the Sept. 8 through Sept. 17 Games. (ivy)