KONI seeks Rp 110b for more gold
KONI seeks Rp 110b for more gold
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Sports Council (KONI) announced a proposal for an
expensive three-year sports development program here on Tuesday
with the initial aim of a strong showing at the 2006 Asian Games.
Called the 'Indonesia Rises' program, the three-year campaign
will cost about Rp 110 billion (nearly US$13 million), according
to Djoko Pramono, a KONI official in charge of development
affairs.
Djoko said that such an amount of money would be sufficient to
develop, train and recruit Indonesian athletes then can perform
on a world-class level.
He was accompanied by KONI Secretary General Djohar Arifin
Husin.
Djohar said the financial need would be partly acquired via a
planned fund-raising drive, which is expected to generate Rp 3
billion a month.
KONI has announced a partnership with PT Metropolitan Magnum
Indonesia to raise funds through tickets sales, which is expected
to start operating in the first quarter of this year.
According to Djoko, who had made his presentation to the other
KONI officials, the development program, which also incorporates
KONI's preparation for the Athens Olympics in August and the 2005
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila, will entail executing five
main priorities for the athletes' preparation.
Indonesia's sporting future has become the main concern
following ever more dismal performances by the country's
delegations in regional events.
Indonesia, which used to be the dominant force a the SEA
Games, has finished in third place in the medal race for three
consecutive times with the latest edition seeing the team end up
behind Vietnam and Thailand.
Indonesia's medal haul has also showed a declining trend at
the Asian Games.
With high hopes of making a turnaround in the next events,
Djoko said that the 'Indonesia Rises' program would prioritize
the development of the top 100 athletes, and added that the total
number was subject to change depending on performance in both
training and competition.
There is no time-table about when the project will be
officially launched. But Djoko said they would commence as soon
as KONI chairman Agum Gumelar approved the details.
Agum is on a business trip to the U.S. and is scheduled to
return on Friday.
The second priority would be holding overseas comparative
studies for local coaches who in an effort to make them more
professional.
KONI has also promised incentives to five potential coaches of
42 sports and urged KONI-affiliated sports organizations to
include young, second-tier athletes in competitions.
The program is likely to include a monthly subsidy of Rp 1
million for the athletes and Rp 2 million for the selected
coaches for six months prior to their participation in the
events.
Moreover KONI would leave the training camp to respective
sports organizations, therefore there would be no need to
establish a national training camp like in previous years.
The program will also seek to initiate as many local
competitions as possible by the sports organizations.
Djoko said that KONI was optimistic that the program could
boost the performance of local athletes.