Wismoyo seeks governors' financial help

JAKARTA (JP): National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar is scheduled to meet with seven governors next week to try and secure their financial support to train athletes for the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur.

"The KONI chairman will meet with seven governors, four from the provinces on Java, plus Lampung, Bali and South Sumatra, to discuss the training programs in their respective areas. If the governors agree to give their support, they should clarify whether they can bear the side effects of their decision, which include providing the athletes an education and jobs," the KONI official in charge of training supervision, Imron ZS, said on Tuesday.

Five governors -- from Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java and South Sumatra -- earlier vowed to give their all-out support for the training. However, further support is expected to come from Yogyakarta, Lampung and Bali.

Imron said KONI was seeking financial help from provinces because it could not organizing the training alone. The council said earlier it planned to organize a decentralized training program at the athletes' hometowns from September to December. The athletes would then attend the centralized training program in Jakarta next year, according to the original plan.

"Our efforts do not mean that KONI wants to avoid the responsibility to stage the training program. But we admit that KONI is incapable of doing it (alone). Moreover, the government has yet to show its political will to help develop sports," he said.

Imron said sports organizations would help KONI supervise the training through their provincial chapters. The council is scheduled to meet with officials from sports organizations in the near future.

"We want them to submit proposals on their targets, and their programs to achieve these targets. We have asked them to submit (the proposals) by the end of October, but we have received only one proposal, from the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association," he said.

Because the centralized training program will last for nearly seven months, governors also are expected to help athletes from their provinces continue their studies or secure jobs.

Some of the athletes will be housed at the Ragunan Sports School in South Jakarta, which has been used to accommodate school-age athletes from other provinces attending the centralized training program in Jakarta.

KONI has invited 1,125 athletes to take part in the decentralized training program, which is being partly funded with some Rp 2 billion (US$222,222) from the central government. The number of athletes in the program will be reduced to 600 in May. From June to August, all of the athletes will undergo trials to determine who will continue in the training program.

During the training, athletes will receive a monthly allowance of Rp 250,000, while coaches will get Rp 450,000.

Imron said KONI was not yet able to disburse the money because of inaccurate data.

"We are still coordinating with sports organizations. Ten percent of the data provided by the organizations on the number and names of athletes differs from our data. KONI has tried to be proactive by scouting potential athletes during the 2000 National Games (in Surabaya)," he said.

Imron said KONI would support provinces once it received financial aid from the government and sponsors.

"When the governors are ready to finance sports and KONI has money in its pockets, we can help provinces by providing sports equipment, foreign coaches or funding to send athletes overseas," he said.

In a related development, the chairman of the Indonesian Table Tennis Association, Triyanto Saudin, said 28 table tennis athletes would be invited to join the training programs in Jakarta, West Java, East Java and West Kalimantan.

"The training programs must start in December at the latest. The number of athletes will be reduced to 14 and they will join the centralized training center four months before the (SEA) Games," he said.

He said the athletes would test their skills in seven International Table Tennis Federation tournaments beginning next month. (ivy)