KONI hopes for sports-committed govt
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) hopes the new government will commit to develop sports in the country because KONI has fallen short in fund-raising ideas to finance training for its athletes.
KONI vice chairman Arie Sudewo and secretary-general Rudolf Warouw concurred on Monday that the organization must wait for the results of the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will elect a president on Oct. 20, before effecting concrete measures to prepare athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
KONI has proposed a Rp 124 billion (US$15.5 million) budget to the office of state minister of youth affairs and sports to finance athletes' preparation for three major events -- the Olympics, the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur and the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.
KONI estimates it will need Rp 6.9 billion to train athletes for the Olympics in a centralized training program to start in February. The council plans to send 66 athletes from archery, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, rowing and canoeing, swimming and diving, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting and windsurfing.
"We hope that the Rp 6.9 billion could be disbursed soon. However, it depends on the people in the Cabinet. If they have a commitment to develop sports, I believe they won't mind disbursing the budget soon to finance our athletes' preparation for the Olympics. We still have no idea on who will be the new president," Warouw said.
Arie said sports organizations would have to finance the expenses of their athletes to compete in the pre-Olympics qualifying round.
"Sports organizations which have financial problems have informed us and asked for assistance. Unfortunately, we can't expect anyone here to help us financially," he said.
"All businesspeople who are also members of KONI's donors are in a financial crisis. We are trying to understand this situation. We cannot even ask for contributions from the public. While the government has yet to give a response to our proposal."
Separately, the Indonesian Yachting and Windsurfing Association (Porlasi) told Antara news agency that it needed US$16,130 to send windsurfer Balinese Oka Sulaksana to compete in the prequalifying round for the Olympics in Noumea, New Caledonia, from Nov. 10 to Nov. 20.
Porlasi's secretary-general Aji Sularto said in his letter to KONI that Oka would be trained by Amith Inbar, a professional surfer from Israel. Amith, world ranked eight, will accompany Oka for three weeks in Noumea and would receive a $1,500 payment per week.
Aji said Oka would take an intensive training program if he qualified for the Olympics. The 1998 Asian Games gold medalist failed to qualify in the prequalifying round in Sydney last month when he finished 23rd.
Arie acknowledged receipt of the letter and said the council would try to support Porlasi financially. "Oka has a world ranking. We will try to support him."
In the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Oka finished in the top 16.
Windsurfing is not among KONI's priorities in the Olympics. KONI has prioritized badminton, taekwondo, archery, boxing, weightlifting and beach volleyball in its Golden Garuda project for the Olympics.
"Windsurfing and track and field are not on our list, but we are open to support any sports whose athletes can qualify for the Olympics," he said. (ivy)