Sports council advises a rethink on training plans
Sports council advises a rethink on training plans
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council, due to financial
shortages, has called on all sports organizations whose athletes
are now being groomed for the 13th Asian Games to reconsider
their tryout plans.
Project officer of national training for the Games, Mohammad
Hindarto, said Thursday that overseas stints looked unrealistic
because the sports council would provide each athlete with just
Rp 5 million (US$588) for his or her trips abroad.
"Instead, we must realize that the monetary crisis is still
going on," Hindarto said, reported Antara.
He said a sports body would need a huge amount of funds to
sent its athletes abroad, while the budget was very limited. The
government has taken Rp 3 billion from the current state budget
to help the sports council finance the training programs for the
Asiad.
Indonesia plans to field 150 athletes in the quadrennial
event, scheduled for Dec. 6 to Dec. 20 in Bangkok.
"I want the organizations to carefully calculate all expenses
they have to cover during overseas trials," Hindarto said.
Hindarto said the national amateur boxing association was one
of the sports bodies wishing to arrange tryouts.
The boxing body is planning an overseas stint for its
pugilists in Cuba, the noted amateur boxing powerhouse in the
world.
"Air fares to Cuba are very expensive, not to mention daily
expenses during the boxers' stay there," Hindarto said, adding
that the living cost in Cuba equals that here.
Indonesia sent four boxers to Cuba prior to the Olympic Games
in 1996, but the program failed to live up to its early
expectations. Only one of the boxers managed to reach the
quarterfinals, while the rest lost in the early rounds.
Hindarto also expressed discontent with the results of the
latest fitness tests of athletes being groomed for the Asiad. He
said many of them were in poor form, compared to their fitness
levels during the 19th Southeast Asian Games in October last
year.
"It's our challenge to improve the athletes' physical fitness.
I believe we can make it if we give them additional food," he
said. (lnt)