Surono is ready for another term at KONI

JAKARTA (JP): Surono, the incumbent president of the National Sports Governing Body (KONI), said yesterday he was ready to hold his position should he be elected again in the body's seventh congress slated for Jan. 16.

"Should I be entrusted to chair KONI again, the first thing I'm going to do is scout talent," Surono said after officially inducting a number of administrators for the body's West Nusa Tenggara provincial chapter in Mataram, the province's capital.

Scouting talents, according to Surono, was a crucial task inadequately done by most of 50 sports organizations placed under KONI's patronage.

Many attributed Indonesia's poor showing at the latest Asian Games in Hiroshima a few months ago to KONI's failure in grooming the athletes it sent to the Games and in serving as a good patron for the various sports organizations it has under its auspices.

Surono acknowledged this but said that KONI had done its best to prepare the Indonesian Asiad squad and blamed the participation of world-class athletes from China and the former Soviet republics for Indonesia's paltry medals collection.

Surono emphasized that in women's shooting, for instance, Indonesia had sent its best team, that is, the one which broke the Southeast Asian Nation Games' record.

But it was beyond KONI's anticipation that the team proved powerless against China, who shifted the world's marks and left Indonesia lamentably in fourth place, he added.

Surono stressed that actually, it was each sports organization, not KONI, which should be counted responsible for the poor performance of its own athletes.

KONI's task was confined to serving as an umbrella body and providing funds for those organizations, Surono argued.

Meanwhile, KONI's vice chairman, Soesilo Soedarman, earlier said he was not ready to take Surono's mantle due to his overwhelming state duties.

Soesilo, who is also Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security, is also the incumbent chairman of Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Body Building Association (PABBSI). (arf)