Prosports managing body inaugurated

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fajar swore in the new board members of the revived Indonesian Professional Sports Supervisory and Control Agency (BP2OPI) here on Monday.

Recalling the notorious trademark of the agency, which was in the past called Bapopi, the minister called for loyalty and dedication from the officials.

"Now that Bapopi has been restructured, we have to be loyal and dedicated for the sake of our professional sports," Malik Fajar said during the ceremony.

The ceremony was attended by Wismoyo Arismunandar, the chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI) and officials of most of the professional sports here such as tennis, golf, volleyball, basketball and boxing.

According to the list of the new board members, copies of which were made available to the media, the 15-strong body is chaired by Toho Chalik Mutohir, with Togi Hutagaol, who is also the KONI chief in charge of budget affairs, acting as the executive director.

Bapopi, the old version of BP2OPI, did not function as well as expected and finally became totally stagnant following the liquidation of the Sports Ministry during Abdurrahman Wahid's administration in 1999.

Bapopi was accused of being unable to optimize its role, especially in the field of professional boxing, which was then marred by several fatalities in the ring.

While fingers of blame were pointed at the Indonesian Boxing Commission (KTI), Bapopi, experts suggested, should have dealt with the issues.

Toho appeared to be well aware of the bad record of Bapopi and was quick to dispel the fears. "We are going to set up rules and regulations and aim for strict supervision over boxing contests," he said.

"We must uphold the law and see to it that medical procedures are properly done," he added.

Toho also saw the possibility for BP2OPI to become the sole sanctioning body for boxing and promoting licenses.

The Indonesia Boxing Association (ATI), the rival body of KTI, hailed the establishment of BP2OPI. "This is a good move to tackle the problems in professional boxing here," Manahan Situmorang said.

Meanwhile, Syamsul Anwar, a former national boxer, said that BP2OPI would need to be transparent in its management to ensure efficiency and avoid corruption.