TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Youth and Sports Minister Zainuddin Amali asserted that budget constraints had nothing to do with the government’s decision to cut down the number of athletes who will represent Indonesia in the upcoming 2021 Sea Games in Vietnam. Instead, it was based on the assessment results issued by the SEA Games Review Team.

Zainuddin conveyed the statement in response to complaints from several sports that were not dispatched to the multi-sport event. The government, he underlined, had just facilitated sports recommended by the Review Team.

“I don't want to respond to that [budget issues] because we know what we are doing. Everything is well-planned, so this has nothing to do with the budget. This is a matter of [potential medal] achievement according to the recommendation of the Review Team,” said the minister in a discussion event at the Wisma Kemenpora building, Monday, April 18.

“As for the system, ask the Review Team,” he added. He further claimed that the ministry mulled over a plan for sending athletes to multi-sport events that would not only rely on data and documents. “We will add more indicators used by the Review Team [to send athletes].”

“Once again, it's not necessarily about a budget, but the notes provided by the Review Team are our basis for dispatching sports in any event,” Zainuddin underlined.

The 2021 SEA Games was scheduled to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 12-23, 2022. This sporting event was supposed to be held last year but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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MUHAMMAD NURHENDRA SAPUTRA