KONI should reconsider bonus plan: Minister
KONI should reconsider bonus plan: Minister
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman asked the National Sports Council (KONI) yesterday to reconsider its plan to give Rp 25 million (US$11,300) to each athlete winning a gold medal at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
"As a token of appreciation, the sum should not be that much," Hayono said.
Hayono asked: If SEA Games gold medalists were to be rewarded so generously, how much more money would have to be awarded to gold medalists in far more important events like the Asian Games or Olympic Games?
Hayono added that the government (his ministry) would have no need to intervene in regulating the incentives if they were secured from public donations.
Hayono made the point at a hearing with House Commission IX at the House of Representatives.
KONI chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar announced on Nov. 17 the plan to award cash incentives for gold, silver and bronze medalists at the Games.
Togi Hutagaol, KONI's budgeting director, later added that the incentives would be given in the form of an insurance policy payable after five years.
A few days later, however, stressing that the idea was not final, Wismoyo said a meeting would be held with the country's tycoons, on whom KONI relies heavily for funds, to discuss the incentive idea.
Promises of cash and houses have been used to boost Indonesian athletes' performance in previous SEA Games. In 1993, the council rewarded gold medalists Rp 1 million, silver medalists Rp 750,000 and bronze medalists Rp 500,000, after Indonesia retained the overall title.
Wismoyo introduced a new reward system for athletes in August when he proposed retirement plans worth Rp 1 billion ($454,000) for each athlete winning a gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Hayono said he supported the idea of awarding bonuses to acknowledge outstanding performance, but stressed the idea should be regulated.
A decree should be passed to secure a source of funds and ensure a standard amount was awarded, he said.
The award should also correspond to the degree of importance of the sporting event, he added.
A similar concern was also voiced by noted sports observer Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar. Reiterating what Hayono suggested, Siregar warned one thing could play havoc with the incentive idea.
"In order to get the bonuses, athletes may be tempted to resort to drugs, as was the case at the 1993 National Games," he said.
The 1993 National Games became the biggest doping scandal in Indonesian sporting history after rich provinces promised their winning athletes huge cash bonuses. Five athletes, including top Javanese swimmer Catherine Surya, were stripped of their medals for using drugs.
Commenting on provinces giving athletes allowances to attend the SEA games, Siregar said the practice had been going on for years.
Jakarta governor Surjadi Soedirdja handed out on Sunday allowances totaling US$47,400, or $300 to each of the province's 158 athletes and officials. Previously, on Dec. 1, East Kalimantan gave each of its athletes $500. East Java handed $100 to each of its SEA Games-bound athletes on the same day. (arf)