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outh and Sports Minister Roy Suryo Notodiprojo was apparently not thinking clearly before addressing the media on Sunday when he stated that Indonesia was ready to replace Vietnam as host of the 2019 Asian Games. Or perhaps he was completely oblivious to the fact that Indonesia did not have the capacity to host the regional games within such a short period. In addition, such a crucial decision should be made by the government that will replace President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s administration in October.

'€œWe have been waiting for this opportunity for decades and don'€™t want to wait for another decade,'€ the minister told The Associated Press. '€œIndonesia is ready and there will be no issues with funding.'€ It was clearly Roy himself, not the nation, who wanted to host the games for his personal prestige.

What he probably meant was that Indonesia was very eager to host the Asian Games for the second time after it organized the same event in 1962. At that time, first president Sukarno hosted the competition to show off Indonesia'€™s power to the West, especially the United States. The then Soviet Union helped him to build the Senayan Sports Complex.

But this was 52 years ago, and until now the facilities are basically the same, with no significant upgrades . The development of sports across the board has never been properly managed. Other countries such as Thailand and South Korea have adopted integrated sports education and promotion from the very beginning. State universities have sports facilities that meet Olympic standards.

We are certainly far behind. For instance, there are no international-level sports facilities at the University of Indonesia (UI), a top state university. Sports are merely an afterthought in relation to other subjects. There are almost no schools in Jakarta or in other big cities with adequate sports venues.

True, Indonesia hosted the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang in November 2011, the second after it was held in Jakarta during the Asian financial crisis in 1997. In both events, it was corruption cases that were the main headlines.

President Yudhoyono initiated integrated sports facilities in Hambalang, Bogor, a few years ago, yet the project was riddled with graft even before construction began. Andi Mallarangeng was assigned to supervise the development in his capacity as then sports minister; he is now a defendant in the Hambalang graft case.

Minister Roy'€™s plan should be opposed. He should focus on completing other duties before the Cabinet'€™s term expires in October.