Sports council prepares three budget proposals for Asiad

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council's 13th Asian Games task force has prepared three budget proposals for sending a national contingent to the quadrennial event in Bangkok in December.

Task force chairman Muhammad Hindarto said Thursday that the first proposal would provide about Rp 8 billion (US$800,000) and $850,000 to finance sending 143 athletes and 40 officials to the Asiad.

The second proposal would provide Rp 4.5 billion and $400,000 to send 78 athletes and 23 officials. The third plan would finance sending 53 athletes and 15 officials, but Hindarto did not mention a figure.

Hindarto said three alternatives were prepared because the council did not know how much money the task force would be given.

"We don't know where the money comes from. We only have the council's annual revenue which will be used to finance the long- term training program," he said.

This year the council's budget is Rp 1 billion, down from last year's Rp 1.2 billion.

Each sports organization will have to help the council by providing 50 percent of its training budget.

The council has until April to use its Rp 500 million routine budget to finance the first phase of national training, which ends at the end of this month.

The council has announced that 22 potentially winning sports will compete at the Asiad.

They are track and field, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, show jumping, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, sepak takraw, shooting, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, volleyball (including beach volleyball), weightlifting, wrestling, wushu and windsurfing.

Kompas reported that only nine of the 22 sports would fully finance their own training from February to August. They are track and field, swimming, gymnastics, shooting, soccer, beach volleyball, show jumping, wushu and windsurfing. (yan)