'Sports should be managed by professionals'
'Sports should be managed by professionals'
The 22nd Southeast Asian Games is over. Some say the Indonesian
squad did a decent job to maintain third place in the medal
standings among 11 competing countries. But many more have
complained about it and blamed the lack of attention and support
for athletic development here. The Jakarta Post talked to some
people about what could be done to improve the situation.
Budiarto, 53, lives in a rented house in Kali Deres, West
Jakarta, with his family. The family has just been evicted from
Tanjung Duren Selatan in West Jakarta:
I don't really pay much attention to the SEA Games competition
because we victims of eviction are still struggling for our
rights.
Well, I am proud as an Indonesian seeing what the athletes
have achieved so far...but not that proud. The target was 70 gold
medals but the squad could not fulfill it. It's not a
satisfactory achievement.
The worst performance was by our soccer team. The management
shouldn't have changed the team so often. Just when the team was
showing improvement, the management changed the players.
Dadi, 29, works at a non-governmental organization promoting
good corporate governance. He lives in Depok, Bogor, West Java:
The sports organizations should be in the hands of sports
administration professionals, not, for example, corrupt
officials, so sports can be developed better and advance in
relation to other, smaller countries.
Look at other countries where sports have become a money
generating industry. By that, they can assure the welfare of the
athletes, and in turn they will score great achievements in
international events.
Our third position in the last SEA Games is like the tip of
the iceberg of the problem the country is facing in sports,
namely corruption and poor management.
Prasetyo, 48, a police officer, and a big sports fan. He
resides in Ciputat, Tangerang, with his wife and three children:
It's sad to see Indonesia's team only reach the third
position. We should have done much better given the fact that
Indonesia is the largest country (among other competing
countries) in terms of population. I'm sure we can select better,
more talented athletes and develop them.
There must be something wrong with the selection of our
athletes. The National Sports Council (KONI) is responsible and
must explain to the people why our athletic performances are so
poor in relation to other countries.
Besides, it's embarrassing for Indonesian athletes to get
beaten up by countries like Vietnam (with a third of the
population and similar economic status). We must reevaluate the
problems in the recruitment as well as training system of our
athletes.
--The Jakarta Post