No. 20 deadline given for sports bodies plans
No. 20 deadline given for sports bodies plans
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's 13th Asian Games task force has
urged all sports organizations to submit their proposals by Nov.
20.
Muhammad Hindarto, a member of the task force who is also the
National Sports Council development program deputy, told
reporters yesterday that the task force would evaluate all
proposals and report the results to the council chairman by the
end of this month.
"Our recommendation will be considered by the chairman before
he makes the decision on which sports Indonesia will compete in
at the quadrennial event," he said after the task force meeting.
The Games in Bangkok next December will feature 36 events.
They are archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball,
billiard and snooker, 10 pin bowling, boxing, canoeing, cycling,
equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo,
kabaddi (India's national sport), karate-do, rowing, rugby
football, sepak takraw, shooting, soccer, softball, soft tennis,
squash, swimming (including diving, synchronized swimming and
water polo), table tennis, tae kwon do, tennis, volleyball
(including beach volleyball), weight lifting, wrestling, wushu
and yachting.
Hindarto said that although the council had announced 16
potential sports -- archery, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing,
cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, surfing,
swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, track and field and weight lifting
-- other sports still had a chance to be represented at the
event.
"The council will not close its door to any sports
organizations' proposals. As long as they can demonstrate good
programs and provide tournaments to act as preparation for the
Games, we'll consider them," he said.
The council has planned to stage a 10-month decentralized
training program starting next month. Each organization will be
responsible for the training and the budget by cooperating with
sponsors.
After that all athletes will be groomed in a three-month
training here financed by the council.
But Hindarto said the task force had yet to decide what kind
of training would be the best for the athletes.
"Based on our experience, we can't start the training next
month. We're facing the Christmas and New Year holidays, the
Moslem fasting month and the Idul Fitri holiday. We can only
start in February," he said.
"However, we expect the sports organizations to initiate their
own training before the council starts the program," he added.
Hindarto said the task force would also discuss how to finance
the training and taking the contingent to the Asiad.
"We'll submit our budget plan to the minister of youth affairs
and sports next month so it can be included in the 1998/1999
State Budget," he said. (yan)