Hence, through the achievements of the athletes in the event, we can assess the quality of the coaching programs implemented by each province for each sport.
Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA) - Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali has appealed to all provinces, as participants in the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week (PON), to avoid the practice of transferring athletes at the national event.

The practice is often conducted by many regional sports administrators to improve their achievements in the four-yearly event.

"The accomplishment achieved by the athletes at the PON must truly come from the coaching programs carried out by each province -- not because of the practice of transferring athletes," the minister remarked at the declaration of the implementation of the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week here on Thursday.

He has emphasized that PON must be a benchmark for local governments and various sports stakeholders regarding their athletes' achievement and development, as stated in the Sports Law, which has been passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives on February 15, 2022.

"Hence, through the achievements of the athletes in the event, we can assess the quality of the coaching programs implemented by each province for each sport," he said.

His party can also find out the extent of regional government’s commitments in providing attention and coaching to their athletes.

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Furthermore, Amali has noted that the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week will be the first PON to be hosted by two provinces.

“I am optimistic that the implementation of the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra PON will be successful," he added.

In particular, he also asked Aceh and North Sumatra provincial governments, as the hosts of the 2024 PON, to uphold sportsmanship and to carry out continuous coaching programs if they want to excel at the event.

In addition to the minister, the declaration for the 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra PON was attended by Governor of Aceh Nova Iriansyah, Governor of North Sumatra Edy Rahmayadi, as well as General Chairperson of the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) Marciano Norman.

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Translator: M Ifdhal, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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