Sports needs special board, observer says

Sports needs special board, observer says

JAKARTA (JP): A sports observer has urged the next government
to set up an organization to handle the country's sports should
the office of the sports ministry be combined with the education
ministry.

MF Siregar said Monday that he did not think it a good idea to
combine the State Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports with the
Ministry of Education and Culture.

"Should they be combined into one ministry, then I proposed
the new government set up an organization to handle national
sports. This type of organization could be like the National
Family Planning Board," Siregar said as quoted by Antara.

Siregar proposed the organization be named the National Sports
Development Organization. "The organization could include
education, the National Sports Council (KONI) and the sports
community."

Siregar said the coordinating minister for people's welfare
had proposed setting up a sports organization in 1996.

"The organization was not established following Indonesia's
failure in the 1995 18th SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand," he
said. Siregar is a former KONI secretary-general.

He said that if the organization was established he hoped it
would have the authority to handle all sport matters, including
the human resources aspect of sport.

The organization, he added, should also develop all technical
aspects as well as sports facilities and infrastructure. "It
could also become a center for all data and information on
sports." (lnt)