Keep on fostering your spirit to make the nation proud through amputee sports.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has lauded the Indonesian amputee football team for qualifying for the Amputee Football World Cup, which will be held in Turkey in October 2022.

"The success of the national team proves that physical disabilities do not prevent anyone from excelling in sports," he remarked during a virtual audience with the Indonesian Amputee Football Association (PSAI) here on Wednesday, according to a press release.

The achievement is the result of PSAI's continuous coaching and athlete development program, he added.

The Vice President said he expected the accomplishment to motivate the community—especially people with disabilities—to become more interested in sports, as well as inspire athletes with disabilities to keep practicing and gain more achievements.

"We also expect that the Indonesian amputee national football team will keep being spirited and focus on training, thus they can achieve the best results in the 2022 World Cup," he added.

The government is committed to establishing a supportive ecosystem to optimally foster national athletes so that they can excel at international sporting events, including by building people’s enthusiasm for sports activities, Amin said.

Hence, the government has issued Presidential Regulation Number 86 of 2021 concerning the Great Design of National Sports (DBON) to develop a supportive sports ecosystem in Indonesia.

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Furthermore, Amin said that his administration will ask the Youth and Sports Ministry as well as other parties, such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to help PSAI athletes to compete in international tournaments.

During the audience, he also listened to the experience of one of the athletes, Agung Rizki Aditya, who became the top scorer in the Amputee Football World Cup qualifying event in Bangladesh in March 2022.

The Vice President lauded the national team members and asked them to continue to improve their achievements.

"Keep on fostering your spirit to make the nation proud through amputee sports," he remarked.

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Translator: Rangga Jingga, Uyu Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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