In a bid to encourage Indonesian athletes to deliver their best at Asia`s biggest sporting event to be held from August 18 to September 2, 2018, Indonesian Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi noted that special rewards or bonuses will be offered to those able to win gold medals in the games.
Nahrawi noted that the rewards could be offered in the form of houses, employment as civil servants, or money in cash, adding that the government is currently calculating the right amount for the cash bonus.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President Jusuf Kalla had led a cabinet meeting to discuss the progress of the preparations for the event at the state palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday (Nov 21).
Nahrawi said after the meeting that President Jokowi had underlined the importance of giving special attention to athletes in terms of their training facilities, equipment, and rewards to the winners.
Indonesia has, for the time being, set a target of finishing 10th or collecting 15 to 20 gold medals at the four-yearly event.
To achieve the target, Indonesia will focus more on those branches of sports, including badminton, weightlifting, athletics, rowing, martial art form pencak silat, and karate, in which the country has potential to win gold medals.
A total of 40 branches of sports covered in 462 events, comprising 32 Olympic sports and eight non-Olympic sports, will be competed at the 18th Asian Games in 2018 to be co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, from August 28 to September 2, 2018.
Coordinating Minister for Human Resource Development and Culture Puan Maharani stated that all preparations were on track, while test competitions for some sports were expected to be held in December.
Indonesia is committed to achieving the target at all costs. Vice President Kalla, who is chairman of the Steering Committee of the 2018 Asian Games, said Indonesia would not like to repeat its poor performance at the Southeast Asian Games 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the 2018 Asian Games.
Indonesia had finished fifth at the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, collecting 38 gold, 63 silver, and 90 bronze medals, a performance viewed as being its worst in the history of the SEA Games since 1977.
Kalla said the government will also use the 2018 Asian Games to prepare for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.
Mentioned herewith are the sports to be competed at the 2018 Asian Games:
Olympic Sports
1- Aquatics
2- Athletics
3- Fencing
4- Weightlifting
5- Basketball
6- Bola tangan
7- Badminton
8- Baseball and softball
9- Cycling
10- Equestrian
11- Golf
12- Wrestling
13- Hockey
14- Judo
15- Karate
16- Canoeing and Kayak
17- Sailing
18- Shooting
19- Modern Pentathlon
20- Archery
21- Sport climbing
22- Rowing
23- Rugby
24- Gymnastics
25- Skateboarding
26- Football
27- Table Tennis
28- Taekwondo
29- Tennis
30- Boxing
31- Triathlon
32- Volleyball
Non-Olympic Sports
1- Bowling
2- Bridge
3- Cricket
4- Kabaddi
5- Martial Arts (Jujitsu, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Sambo, and Wushu)
6- Mechanical Sports (Paragliding and Jet skiing)
7- Squash
8- Sepak Takraw
Preparations for the event are ongoing, with the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) currently finalizing its plan for the opening and closing ceremonies of the event.
"Our team will continue to work, and we hope to have a good plan in place by January or February. The opening and closing ceremonies are important events of the Asian Games," INASGOC Chairman Erick Thohir noted after accompanying Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono during a visit to the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan here on Thursday (Nov 23)
The opening and closing ceremonies of the 18th Asian Games must not be inferior as compared to those of the 2017 SEA Games held in Malaysia, which had cost US$25-35 million.
"We do not want to be lavish, but we also do not want to be inferior as compared to Malaysia. The opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic Games will cost around $80 to $100 million," he stated in connection with the budget for the Asian Games.
Vice President Kalla had reviewed the preparations of the Indonesian weightlifting athletes for the 2018 Asian Games on Friday.
"The exercise is very interesting, as the environment is good and (the training is) very intensive," Kalla stated.
Kalla highlighted that the location of the weightlifting training center, which is close to the headquarters of the Marine Corps Command, had an advantage, as the athletes could take a cue from the discipline maintained by the marine corps.
Kalla explained that there were three aspects of preparations ahead of the Asian Games: facilities, implementation, and achievement.
"Some 80 percent of the facilities, such as those in Senayan (Jakarta), will be roughly completed by December 2017, and Palembang has also made a lot of progress," he noted, adding that several sponsorships had been received to support the 2018 Asian Games.
"What we are looking at now is achievements, such as in the weightlifting (category). I am certain that all will finish well," he emphasized.
Indonesia will host the 18th Asian Games, a regional sporting event for Asian nations.
Thousands of athletes from 54 countries are expected to participate in the games.
This will be the second time that Indonesia will host the Asian Games, with the first one held in Jakarta in 1962 under President Soekarno.
The INASGOC requires Rp800 billion to broadcast the matches of 38 sports as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games.
(H-YH/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/A/H-YH)
Reporter: yoseph Hariyadi
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
