No Tiger Cup, no Asiad for RI

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman told the All Indonesian Soccer Federation yesterday that the country's national team had to win the second Tiger ASEAN Cup championship if it wanted to compete at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December.

"There's an understanding that the national soccer team must win the Tiger Cup. If it fails, the association agrees not to field the team at the Asiad. I hope the National Sports Council will also agree with this," said Hayono after a meeting with the association's secretary-general Nugraha Besoes yesterday.

"This is the association's effort to assure the people that the national team deserves a chance to compete at the Asiad. If it wins the Tiger Cup, the government and the public will support the team," Hayono said.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are automatically in the main draw while Singapore, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam and Laos will have to qualify for the championship here in September.

Nugraha told reporters: "The national team will concentrate on competing at the championship to gain public support. The association must also work hard to stage the event based on our experience during the 19th SEA Games."

" We'll discuss with security officers our procedures regarding staging soccer matches at the Senayan main stadium. Pak Hayono also urged us to pay attention to the referees, especially their allowance."

Nugraha said the association planned to send the team to two events only this year; the Tiger Cup and the Asiad.

Hayono also expressed satisfaction that the association wanted to cancel its plan to have 18 tryout matches in Asia and Europe.

"The association agrees to have the tryouts here. If the team has the tryouts abroad, although with its own money, the public can't enjoy their team's performances. We must also consider the rupiah's recent downturn," he said.

The association had planned to tour to Saudi Arabia, China, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

However, Nugraha declined to mention the budget needed for the tryouts saying that "it's still being calculated."

The council has divided the 22 sports into three categories based on their chances of winning medals at the Asiad. The first comprises badminton, boxing, karate, tae kwon do, tennis (if world ranked 20 Yayuk Basuki plays), weightlifting and windsurfing. Beach volleyball, canoeing, fencing, rowing, sepak takraw, swimming, wrestling and wushu make up the second group while cycling, equestrian, gymnastics, indoor volleyball, judo, shooting, soccer and track and field are in the third category.

Soccer is grouped with sports that need to intensify long-term training in order to have a chance of winning medals.

Nugraha said the association had its work cut out staging friendlies due to the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) ban on staging matches at the Senayan main stadium.

The AFC imposed the ban after chaos during the SEA Games final between host Indonesia and Thailand.

"The association must stage the tryouts outside Jakarta, probably in Surabaya and Medan, North Sumatra. The ban will end in May," Nugraha said.

Hayono said the government expected the Indonesian contingent to increase the country's games ranking from its current 11th place.

"Bearing this in mind, only potential bronze medalists or better will compete at the Asiad," he said.

Hayono expressed concern that the National Development Planning Board might cancel its intention to provide Rp 2 billion (US$222,000) to finance the Asiad training if the economic downturn continues.

"I met Pak Ginandjar (Kartasasmita, the planning board chairman) this morning and he said it's impossible for the council to get more than the Rp 2 billion."

"If the board cancels the Rp 2 billion budget, which will hopefully be cashed in July, the council may not be able to send the contingent to the Asiad." (yan)