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.