Stricter selection urged for national team

Stricter selection urged for national team

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Sports Council (KONI) is to meet on Thursday with a
new call for more stringent selection requirements for both the
sports Indonesia will take part in and the athletes taking part
in international events so as to avoid further embarrassments.

"We must only send athletes with clear medal-winning chances.
We don't have to participate in all events," House of
Representatives' legislator Ferdiansyah said.

Ferdiansyah, a member of House Commission VI for human
resources, including sport, was speaking during a discussion held
to evaluate Indonesia's performance in the Southeast Asian Games
in Kuala Lumpur last month and to seek ways of improving the
national team's achievements in next year's Asian Games in Pusan,
South Korea.

Also present at the discussion were Asian Games project
manager Rudolf S. Warouw, who is also KONI's secretary-general,
training director Imron ZS and sports lecturer Taufik Yudi of the
Jakarta State University (UNJ).

Indonesia for the second time finished third in the SEA Games,
placing it behind the region's new sporting powerhouses, Thailand
and Malaysia.

Ferdiansyah suggested that coaches, officials and athletes be
held accountable for the latter's performances in certain events.

"We could impose a carrot and stick policy in respect of
athletes, coaches and officials in a bid to motivate them to work
hard so as to achieve the best possible results," he said.

Ferdiansyah renewed his call to the government to pay more
attention to sports development by providing significant funding
and tax breaks for sports equipment.

Imron refused to call Indonesia's third-place finish in the
SEA Games a total failure. Instead, he said the national team had
managed to at least maintain their standards despite the lack of
government support, while other countries had declined in medal
terms.

"Malaysia and Thailand have been preparing themselves for the
last few years with massive financial support from their
governments. In comparison, we've found obstacles in raising
funds to finance the centralized training center. This has forced
us to call on a number of governors and provincial legislative
councils to seek additional funding," Imron said.

As for the Asian Games, he said KONI would short-list the best
athletes from 20 prospective sports following intensive
discussions with sports organizations.

"Initially, we expected to have some 230 athletes groomed for
the Asiad. But after intensive discussions, we decided the number
would not be more than 150," said Imron.

He added that most sports organizations understood their
strengths vis-a-vis other Asian countries.

"The cycling association, whose team contributed 11 gold
medals in Kuala Lumpur, has proposed that it participate in three
events at Asiad," he said.