Sports council offers bonus

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)