KONI proposes Rp 124b for three sports events

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) has requested a Rp 124 billion (US$14.6 million) budget for athlete preparation for three major sporting events -- the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur and the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

KONI's planning and budget deputy, Sudharno, said on Tuesday that the budget plan had been submitted to the office of the state minister of youth affairs and sports.

For the 2000 Olympics, KONI will need Rp 6.9 billion to prepare athletes at a centralized training program to be held in February next year. KONI plans to send 66 athletes from archery, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, rowing and canoeing, swimming and diving, taekwondo, track and field, weightlifting and windsurfing.

Sudharno said sports organizations and KONI's provincial chapters must work together to prepare athletes before they joined the centralized training program.

For the 2001 SEA Games, KONI requested a Rp 100 billion fund to train more than 1,000 athletes for nearly two years.

KONI, which hopes to grab the overall title in the next Games, will train 1,297 athletes before admitting 60 percent of the figure. It also plans to send athletes for tryouts on two occasions.

In the Games held in Brunei Darussalam last month, Indonesia took third place behind Thailand and Malaysia.

KONI blamed a lack of funds as the main factor behind the contingent's poor performance. KONI only received Rp 5 billion from the government to prepare its 400 athletes.

For the 2002 Asiad, KONI needs about Rp 17.1 billion to lift its medal tally from six gold medals.

Separately, the Gelora Senayan Executive Directors (DPGS) chairman, Yasidi Hambali, said Indonesia would not need a huge budget to host the 2006 Asian Games because venues in the Senayan sports complex met international standards.

"We have a historical sports complex in Senayan. (Our situation is) in contrast with Malaysia and Thailand; they had to build a new complex to host the event," Antara quoted him as saying.

Malaysia constructed several venues for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Thailand also had to construct a new complex outside Bangkok to host last year's Asiad.

Yasidi estimated a total budget of Rp 200 billion was necessary to renovate the whole complex and build a new athletes' village at Patal Senayan, which is located next to the sports complex.

Yasidi said even if Indonesia did not host the 2006 Asiad, DPGS would still renovate venues in the sports complex in order to be accredited internationally. (yan)