Sports council offers bonus

SEMARANG (JP): The Central Java Sports Council is offering a bonus for local athletes who earn medals in the 15th National Games (PON) in June in Surabaya, East Java.

Council chairman Djoko Sudantoko said a gold medal winner would get Rp 20 million, silver Rp 10 million and bronze Rp 5 million. He failed to mention, however, whether he would also give bonuses to coaches and officials whose athletes won the medals in the quadrennial event.

"Money is available for the bonuses. The amount will increase because we have targeted to win 50 gold medals instead of the 30 golds that we got in the 1996 PON," he said, adding that the council would send 372 local athletes to compete in 32 sports.

He said the bonus policy had lured its former athletes to defend their own provinces. "The bonus policy has persuaded many Central Javanese athletes to return home. Twenty-one out of 25 athletes who left this province have come back to fight on behalf of our province," he said.(har)