Funding always arrives late for multi-sport events, whether the SEA Games, the Asian Games or the Olympics.
Because of the delay in funding, the karateka team and climbing team are threatened with having to cancel their participation in the international competition. It is feared the karateka team may have to cancel their participation in the Karate-do Asian Championships in Kazakhstan, and that the climbing team may have to cancel their departure to Switzerland and France to take part in the trials for the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup in the two countries.
This year, the delay in funding has even stalled the allowance payments for all athletes, trainers, and staff of the Satlak Prima task force (Gold for Indonesia elite athletes program). Earlier, delays in funding were also reported by several divisions of the national training camps (pelatnas), including archery, boxing, and tennis. Some divisions have even resorted to self-financing their training ahead of the 2017 SEA Games. Ryan Lalisang, for example, is willing to pay the entry fee for the bowling competition in Singapore.
According to Chandra Bhakti, deputy assistant for Sports Achievement at the Youth and Sports Ministry, only 10 of the 30 plans on athletes\' overseas preparatory activities for the 2017 SEA Games have been approved by the State Secretariat. The delay in approvals is generally due to administrative issues, such as incorrect, incomplete and inaccurate athlete data.
Aside from having to obtain permission from the State Secretariat, the Finance Ministry manages the application system policy for the disbursement of funds. According toYouth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S Dewa Broto, the sports ministry has not yet optimized its online network services with the State Treasury.
With preparations that are far from perfect, it is hard to expect maximal performances from Indonesian athletes in this year’s SEA Games.The target of 50-60 gold medals in Kuala Lumpur and 10 gold medals in the 2018 Asian Games will be difficult to achieve.
In fact, in the 2011 SEA Games, Indonesia won 181 gold medals and became the overall champion. However, two years later in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, Indonesia finished fourth with 64 gold medals. Even in the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, Indonesia came in fifth overall with 47 gold medals.
Our athletes’ performance in the SEA Games will be the benchmark for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. For athletes across nearly all sports, a year is not a long time for improving performance. Moreover, preparations for the Asian Games are marked by turmoil, which does not raise the spirit of athletes to fight for gold.
