TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - With such poor preparations, the 18th Asian Games to be held in Jakarta and Palembang this August may turn into a mess. Six months to the opening, several stadiums are not ready. Meanwhile, facilities that have been completed are not up to standards. Strenuous efforts are needed to ensure that the event, portrayed as a momentum for Indonesia’s revival in the international arena, does not end up an embarrassment.

This chaos could have been prevented if the government had not been so ready to accede to the Asian Olympic Committee’s request four years ago that Indonesia replaces Vietnam as host for the 2018 Asian Games. As a substitute host, we had to lose at least two years of preparations.

Even after Indonesia was officially named host country, preparations did not begin immediately. The Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Indonesian Olympic Committee, and the Indonesian National Sports Committee squabbled over their roles in organizing the Asian Games. The arguing cost us more time. Corruption by two members of the Indonesian Olympic Committee in 2016 at the publicity stage of the Asian Games also delayed preparations, especially since youth and sports ministry relatives were rumored to be involved.

The effects of the insufficient time are becoming increasingly obvious. Construction and renovation of the main and supporting facilities for the quadrennial event are in disorder. Several new venues will only be completed one month before the opening. All competition venues that should have been ready one year before the games were still in a mess as of the end of last week. This is very worrying.

Then there is the question of funding. The Presidential Regulation on the Organization of the Asian Games-the instrument for the release of new funds-was only signed in April 2017. Additionally, the government has only allocated Rp4.5 trillion and has asked committee members to seek an additional Rp1 trillion in sponsorship. State-owned enterprises and private companies are being pushed to participate. This type of fundraising is unhealthy because it’s not based on rational business calculations.

The preparedness of Indonesian athletes to compete in their home country is also in doubt. The budget for centralizing training has received a wide slash, although the government has set a target of 16-20 gold medals and aims to finish in the top 10. In all past Asian Games, except when Indonesia acted as host in 1962, we have never won more than eight golds.

To improve performance, the government took the initiative to include non-Olympic sports, such as bridge, jet-skiing, parasailing and Indonesian martial arts. For these unrated sports, scores from judges determine the winners. The problem is that if the judges are seen to favor athletes from the host country, our contingent would be ridiculed by athletes from other countries.

It would be much better for the Indonesian National Sports Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to put all their efforts into producing new athletes in Olympic sports branches. Investing in training facilities for athletes in these sports would not prove in vain. Achievements from laying down such foundations in training would be felt for years to come in world competitions.

Also worthy of consideration is the long-term impact of hosting the Asian Games. The organizers of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016, both acknowledged that they did not make as much profit as they had hoped. Starting now, the government must look for ways to ensure that the trillions of rupiah that will be spent will bring proportional benefits to the growth of our economy.

Providing competition venues for 20 sports branches, hosting around 15,000 athletes from 45 countries and guaranteeing live TV broadcasting for around four billion viewers is no easy task. Arduous work will be needed to ensure the success of the Olympic-scale event. The nation’s pride is at stake.

The government needs focus and discipline, and must not take advantage of the Asian Games simply to improve its political image. Indonesia’s success must belong to all of us, not just to those who happen to be in power.

Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine