RI athletes lack discipline, says KONI training head
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's preparation for the 22nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games seems to be stuttering as the national training chief criticized the athletes for lacking discipline.
"Some of the athletes appeared undisciplined. This can affect our preparation for the SEA Games," Djoko Pramono, KONI official in charge of the Indonesian training for the SEA Games in Vietnam, said.
Djoko told reporters about learning of the athletes' discouraging conduct following his inspection of the Hotel Century, the home of some of the training athletes, on Tuesday.
Indonesia will send athletes to Vietnam to compete in 23 sports. It is not known how many athletes are based out of the Hotel Century, which lies outside the Bung Karno sports compound in Central Jakarta.
Djoko, who is also a National Sports Council (KONI) chief in charge of development, said those athletes came from five disciplines : athletics, boxing, gymnastics, soccer and wushu (martial arts).
"They are awake late at night, some watching TV. They hang around outside the hotel for meals instead of sticking to the hotel menu.
"This bad behavior must stop, otherwise they won't be able to optimize their preparation. I will consult with the sports organizations, because this phase of the training is their responsibility," Djoko said.
"Maybe, I'll ask the sports organizations to not allow their athletes TV or irons in their rooms. We have to be strict with the athletes to make our mission successful in Vietnam," he said.
Djoko recalled his success in guiding Indonesia to the top of the standings at the 1997 games, a feat he attributed to his strict handling of the athletes during the training phase.
Soewardi, the training director of the boxing workout, admitted there were some misbehaving among his boxing hopefuls.
"I have dismissed five boxers because of their poor disciplinary conduct," he said when contacted later on the day. He failed to elaborate when the cuts took place but said it was before June 1.
He said three of the five boxers were being groomed for long- term opportunities, while two others -- Stevie Binalay and Antonius Joni -- were preparing for the Vietnam games.
It was the second time Binalay has been dismissed from the training squad. He was also cut from the Indonesian boxing squad before the 2002 Asian games.
Soewardi said the Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina) was training 19 boxers, 15 of whom are staying in Hotel Century to prepare for the games.
He pledged to continued strict action against misbehaving boxers. "That's for sure. Those failing to obey procedure have no place in the squad," he said.