The 2024 PON is scheduled to be held in Aceh and North Sumatra on September 8-20.
The ministry's Deputy for Sports Achievement Improvement, Surono, stated during an online discussion on Wednesday that the government is pushing for the continuity of coaching by utilizing the existing sports arenas to improve the quality of coaches, athletes, sports science, and others.
"Sustainable development is essential in sports. If we want to achieve world-class achievements, we have to provide world-class training with good facilities," he emphasized.
The continued use of the PON arenas is deemed important, especially for the development of potential young athletes.
Surono cited as an example that the gold medals won by Veddriq Leonardo and Rizki Juniansyah at the Paris 2024 Olympics were the result of continuous preparation.
To this end, the utilization of PON facilities and infrastructure should be maximized to boost national sports achievements.
Furthermore, he said, the ministry also made a similar appeal to the Papua government that had earlier hosted PON in 2021.
According to Surono, sports in which Indonesia recorded good achievements in the Olympics will be prioritized at PON.
"PON must be the pinnacle of national achievements with a note that the patterns of coaching and competition are carried out in accordance with international rules of federations," he remarked.
The 2024 Aceh-North Sumatra PON will involve a total of 67 sports: competitions for 33 sports will be held in Aceh, while competitions for 34 sports will be held in North Sumatra.
The national-level multi-sport event will involve more than five thousand athletes and two thousand officials.
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Translator: Donny Aditra, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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