"Our target for the 2025 SEA Games is to maintain our position, at least in third place," Thohir said at a press conference, referring to Indonesia’s standing in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia.
Thohir acknowledged that achieving the target may be more challenging this year, as several sports that have traditionally been Indonesia’s strongholds will not be featured in the upcoming event.
According to ministry data, out of the 87 sporting events that contributed gold medals for Indonesia in the 2023 SEA Games, 41 will not be contested in the 2025 edition.
"If we want to achieve even third place, we need to win between 82 and 90 gold medals," he noted.
The ministry’s evaluation projected that Indonesia may secure around 32 gold medals at the 2025 SEA Games.
However, this tally would still fall short of the previous benchmark, as Indonesia needed 46 gold medals to secure third place in the 2023 edition.
To address this, the ministry will invite national sports federations to discuss medal targets for the upcoming games.
"Because the current reality shows that third place is still quite far," Thohir remarked.
He added that his team will review the plans proposed by sports federations to improve Indonesia’s chances of winning more medals, with the 2025 SEA Games only about 1.5 months away.
Meanwhile, Thohir confirmed that the ministry has received additional funds to support Indonesia’s participation, raising the budget from Rp10 billion (US$602,000) to Rp60 billion (US$3.6 million).
"With the current funding, we can send between 700 and 800 athletes to the 2025 SEA Games, depending on our joint evaluation," Thohir stated, adding that with the initial Rp10 billion budget, Indonesia could have only sent around 120 athletes.
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Translator: Aloysius Lewokeda, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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