Sporting links to boost Indonesia-Portugal relations

Sporting links to boost Indonesia-Portugal relations

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Portugal is offering Indonesia its expertise and experience in
sports in a move aimed at bolstering diplomatic ties between the
two countries on a people-to-people level.

The offer was conveyed by Portuguese Sports and Youth
Minister, Jose Lello, during his three-day visit to Indonesia,
where he met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Indonesian
sports officials.

Accompanied by Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia Ana Gomes,
Lello met Transportation Minister Agum Gumelar, who also chairs
the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), and Wismoyo
Arismunandar, the chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI),
on Thursday.

"We want to offer our expertise and cooperation in sports,
such as by sending our experts here for seminars or training
sessions with Indonesian coaches," he said.

"This way we can work together to improve the quality of
Indonesian sports."

Lello pointed out that sports were now more complex than in
the past and that more disciplines were now involved.

"There are many aspects such as nutrition, physiology and
coaching methods. And the current global focus is on anti-doping
principles," he said.

"I can't elaborate on the details of the cooperation because
this is only the first contact. But we are preparing protocols to
create cooperation projects."

Lello is the second Portuguese minister to visit Indonesia
after Foreign Minister Jaime Gama in 1999, when both countries
agreed to restore their diplomatic ties.

Portugal cut its ties with Indonesia in 1975 following
Indonesia's integration of Portuguese Timor, now known as East
Timor.

Meanwhile Gomes, the first Portuguese ambassador to Jakarta
since the restoration of diplomatic ties, said the minister's
visit represented a new way forward in promoting both countries.

"We must forget the mutual ignorance of both countries over
the past 25 years and promote a better understanding, which can
be acquired through cultural exchanges as well as sports," she
said.

Portugal, one of the powerhouses of European soccer, has
qualified for the 2002 World Cup finals, to be co-hosted by Japan
and South Korea. Portugal has been drawn in group D together with
South Korea, the U.S. and Poland.

"We are in a rather comfortable group and I am pretty sure
that the Portuguese national team can reach the quarterfinals,"
said Lello.

Portugal faces a busy soccer schedule over the next few years,
particularly when it hosts the 2004 EuroCup. A semifinalist in
the 2000 tournament, Portugal beat out Austria, Spain and Hungary
to win the right to host the prestigious event.

"We are building seven new stadiums and renovating three
others, with a total budget of US$1 billion. The project will be
funded mainly by the private sector with the government
contributing 25 percent of the project funds," said Lello.

"Our actual bid was only to provide six or eight stadiums but
then we saw it as an opportunity to have an equal spread of
development in various regions."

"So each region will have its own stadium to be proud of."