Indonesian Athletes to Asian Games Reach about 800, Says Minister
Jakarta, MINA – Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs, Imam Nahrawi, stated that the number of Indonesian athletes in the 2018 Asian Games will reach about 800, out of 1,200 athletes who undergo a national training camp (pelatnas).
“Of about 1,200 athletes who are now undergoing pelatnas, the number will decrease in the second phase in May, which will further decline,” Antara News quoted the minister as saying here on Thursday.
The certainty of the number of athletes in the Indonesian contingent was also evaluated with regard to the insurance coverage for the athletes who undergo pelatnas, he stated.
“If any athletes who have been protected by insurance are degraded in the national training camp, the insurance will then disappear by itself,” Nahrawi disclosed.
The minister explained that the total number of the Indonesian athletes and officials who will follow the Asian Games could reach 1,500 people, because the country, being the host, will take part in all match numbers.
After the Asian Games, he remarked that his office will continue to prioritize the sports branches that have the potential to grab medals in multi-sport championships abroad.
In addition, the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry will prepare sanctions for sports branches that fail to meet the achievement targets in the 2018 Asian Games, as stated in the budget proposal.
“I think the Asian Games will become a measuring instrument. On the one hand, many sports are optimistic about the achievement. On the other hand, however, we will also prepare for the rewards,” he revealed.
Budget reduction is one of the sanctions that will be applied against sports that fail to meet the target achievement.
The Asian Games, which will be held in Jakarta and the South Sumatra provincial capital city of Palembang from Aug 18 to Sept 2, will bring together around 10 thousand athletes from 45 countries to compete in 40 sports.
It will be the second time that Indonesia is hosting the Asian Games this year. Indonesia hosted the Asian sporting events for the first time in 1962, the fourth one after the Asian Games were first organized in New Delhi, India, in 1951. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
