National Sports Management Took the Blame for Failure in Incheon

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian sports management came under fire, especially after the recent failure in the XVII Asian Games in Incheon. The Sports and Youth Ministry, National Sports Committee (KONI), and the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) were blamed for not coordinating properly for the sake of national sports achievement.

In the XVII Asian Games in Incheon, Indonesia failed to meet its target of collecting 10 gold medals. With only 4 gold medals, Indonesia was left on the 17th position out of 37 participating countries. Malaysia, Singapura, and Thailand were above Indonesia in terms of gold medal collection.

Rexy Mainaky from the Indonesian Badminton Association said that the three institutes were all mixed up in terms of coordination. "It is like when we want to ask for a trainer, they all have trainers. If we opt to use a trainer from one institute, the two others will be angry," said Rexy.

Rexy added that the three institutes should each have a clear job description. He suggested that KONI can coordinate to the Minister upon fulfilling the needs of one sport branch.

National swimming coach Albert Sutanto also criticized the calamity in the national sports management, blaming that the government needs to evaluate try-out provision. "We expect the government to accommodate each [sport] branch, not making it general. We cannot have only two try-outs. The needs from each branch are different," he said.

RINA WIDIASTUTI