SIWO looking for ideal KONI chairman
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A one-day workshop will be held in an effort to formulate the criteria for selecting the next chairman of the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI), organizers said here on Tuesday.
Organized by the Jakarta Sports Journalists' Association (SIWO Jaya), the workshop is scheduled to take place in the Hilton Hotel, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.
"The workshop takes the theme ... empowering national sports toward international achievement. It is an expression of our concern about national sports ahead of a probable change in KONI's leadership next year," Mike Wangge of the organizing committee said.
Mike said the question of who would lead KONI for the next term was important as the future of Indonesian sport was at stake.
"Through the one-day forum, we expect to receive feedback from the participants about the ideal KONI leader," he said.
Present as keynote speakers will be Toho Cholik Mutohir, the director-general of sports at the Ministry of Education, Taufik Yudi, a lecturer at the Jakarta State University and M.F. Siregar, an specialist advisor to the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI).
KONI is currently chaired by Wismoyo Arismunandar, whose second term should come to an end in February when KONI holds a national congress.
Wismoyo is scheduled to open the workshop, but has vowed not to influence its proceedings.
"Wismoyo has confirmed that he will not run for a third term," Mike said.
Wismoyo, who took over the post in 1994 from Surono, has been the subject of criticism as a result of Indonesia's lack of sporting achievements over the past three years, not only in Asia but in the South East Asian region as well.
The country's declining sporting performance began at the 1999 SEA Games when it not only relinquished domination to Thailand but, in an unprecedented turnaround, also ended up behind neighbor and rival Malaysia.
The slump continued last year in the same arena, when Thailand and Malaysia swapped the top two places while Indonesia was once again consigned to third place.
At a higher level of competition, during the recent Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, last October, Indonesia was unable to match the number of gold medals it took in Bangkok four years ago, taking home only four this time around.
Mike said that about 120 participants were expected to attend the workshop, the results of which would be submitted to the KONI congress as a guide for choosing its next leader.