KONI plans SEA Games campaign

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) has proposed a morale boosting campaign for the Indonesian athletes who will compete in the 17th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"During the SEA Games campaign, we ask people throughout the country to give enthusiastic and continuous support to our best sportsmen and women," KONI spokesman Ishadi said on Wednesday. "No matter what else, the people can give support to the athletes," he added.

A private company, Zenith, has been named to organize the nationwide campaign which starts next month and runs up to November.

"The private company is arranging and funding the campaign, while KONI will only provide the athletes who will take part in our program," Ishadi said.

"The campaign is a means to involve the people in our national sports development. The people should provide funds if they want their athletes to perform commendably."

Ishadi made it clear that the campaign would not play havoc with the athletes' preparations for the Games in November. Most of the sportsmen and women groomed for the biennial event have been undergoing training since April.

A festival, which is to field a massive number of athletes, will highlight the campaign on Sept. 9, when the country celebrates National Sports Day.

KONI has set a target of retaining the overall title at the SEA Games, which is to be held from Dec. 9 through 17. Indonesia, which will miss two out of the 28 events contested in the Games, will face its fiercest challenge from host Thailand.

Indonesia ruled the roost in the biennial event for the past two decades. After winning the Games four times in a row from 1977, it suffered its only defeat in Thailand in 1985. Indonesia regained Southeast Asian sports supremacy in the next four editions of the Games. (amd)