'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