KONI to announce new board

KONI to announce new board

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) plans to announce the recently-completed lineup of its new leadership board by this Friday.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, the lineup is 99 percent fixed," Rudolf Warouw, the closest assistant of new KONI president Wismoyo Arismunandar, said during a get-together with outgoing top KONI officials yesterday.

Warouw, who has been handling the recruitment program since the election of Wismoyo last month, insisted on holding back news of the new staff. "My job is to pave the way for the new KONI officials before the formal transfer of authority this weekend," he said.

Warouw, a former military figure in East Timor, has been dubbed the KONI Secretary General. He has, for the past two weeks, arranged meetings with a number of KONI's outgoing top officials to discuss organizational matters.

A national congress held by KONI last month gave Wismoyo until Feb. 25 to complete the selection of his staff.

Wismoyo was invited to yesterday's fast-breaking party but failed to show up for reasons unknown. "Maybe he was trapped in a traffic jam en route to this evening program," said Warouw.

Throngs of journalists were left waiting for three hours only to find out that Wismoyo would not appear.

"We will send out a formal invitation 24 hours before the announcement of the lineup," said Warouw to console the disappointed journalists.

Former KONI president Surono delivered his last speech before his staff during yesterday's gathering, saying that he left both successes and failures to his successor.

The two-time KONI president, who has devoted himself to the national sports governing body for 20 years, said that KONI's new top officials will have the major task of maintaining Indonesia's reign at the Southeast Asian Games and of taking the country's performance to a higher level.

"At least the new KONI staff will inherit Rp 1.6 billion (US$730,000) of cash when I leave my post," said Surono. (amd)