Missing athletes to be dropped from SEAG training program
Missing athletes to be dropped from SEAG training program
JAKARTA (JP): The SEA Games national training director Djoko
Pramono and three sports organizations will approach 10 athletes
who have refused to join the centralized training program.
If the athletes concerned still refuse to join, the National
Sports Council will exclude them from the national squad.
"We can't just rely on one person although he or she may be a
potential gold-medal winner. We won't sacrifice the whole system
just for one athlete," Djoko said during a breaking of the fast
gathering Thursday.
Djoko plans to call the Indonesian Table Tennis Association,
the Indonesian Cycling Association and the Indonesian Pencak
Silat Association on Monday to discuss the athletes'
intransigence.
"I have called the three associations and hopefully we can
solve the problem on Monday," Djoko said.
Some athletes refused to join the program because they would
have to leave their study or job to do so.
Djoko said that hopefully the problems would be resolved after
Idul Fitri holidays as athletes would then return from their home
towns.
A cycling association official Denny Gumulya said that only
three of the 50 selected athletes have not joined the program due
to their work commitments. They are TB Maulana, Hengky Setiawan
and Herry Janto Setiawan.
Six cyclists are to leave for Malaysia tomorrow to take part
in a tour of the island state of Langkawi. They are Teguh,
Tonton Suprapto, M Basri, M Handy, Nunung and Chrisyanto.
The association also plans to send its cyclists on an overseas
stint in the Philippines and an Asia Cycling championship in
Teheran, Iran.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's 1990 Asian Games gold medalist Pino
Bahari has submitted a letter to the Indonesian Boxing
Association stating his intention to retire.
Secretary-General Didiet Soedijoto said that Pino wanted to
concentrate on his future without explaining what that might be.
Antara reported that Pino's brother, Nemo Bahari, had already
retired to become a priest in Cianjur, West Java.
The association's chairman Paul Toding said that the
organization will not ask Pino to return to boxing.
"It's not a problem anymore. We don't want to coach boxers who
are not totally devoted to the sport," he said.
Didiet said that the association cannot focus its attention on
individuals.
"All boxers will be treated equally so they can have the same
chance of winning international tournaments," he said. (yan)