The government’s success in battling COVID-19 will determine the fate of this year’s National Games (PON) in Papua, said National Sports Council (KONI) chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Marciano Norman.

He added that if the government was able to significantly slow down the virus by June, there would still be enough time to prepare for the event as scheduled, from Oct. 20 to Nov. 2.

“Should we face an escalation [of COVID-19] by June, then the government is strongly advised to postpone the event until next year, probably after the Tokyo Olympics and before the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games,” Marciano, former State Intelligence Agency chief, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He was also concerned that many athletes would not be able to reach their peak performance as their preparations had been massively disrupted by the pandemic. However, he urged the government to continue the construction of many sports and supporting facilities in Papua, which are slated to be fully completed in July.

Sharing the same concerns was Indonesia Sports Scientist Association chief Djoko Pekik Irianto, who encouraged the government to immediately announce the postponement if many COVID-19 cases were continuing to emerge in July.

He added that ideally, the multisport event should be held in March or April next year as both the central and local governments would be ready budget-wise.

“Staging the event in June or July is not advisable as it would disrupt regional funding,” Djoko said.

Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said his ministry had completed its recommendation for the upcoming Papua PON and was ready to discuss it with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“We have gathered recommendations from all related stakeholders. There are pluses and minuses in the recommendations and the final say will be coming from the President himself,” the minister said.

Right now, Zainudin went on, the ministry was waiting for the President’s staff to set up the meeting.

The Youth and Sports Ministry has allocated Rp 500 billion (US$30.7 million) of its Rp 1.7 trillion budget for PON preparations. It is currently reallocating funds to assist with the government’s COVID-19 response.

The 2020 PON will be held in Papua for the first time ever with athletes from across the country to compete in 37 sports in Jayapura city and Jayapura, Mimika and Merauke regencies.

COVID-19, classified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, has entered more than 200 countries worldwide, infecting more than 1.4 million people and causing over 80,000 deaths. It has had a particularly devastating effect on the sporting world, causing big events such as the 2020 Olympics Games and the Wimbledon Grand Slam to be postponed.

In Indonesia, most sporting events have been canceled or pushed back, including soccer and basketball leagues.

The head of House of Representatives Commission X overseeing education, sports, tourism and the creative economy, Syaiful Huda, previously asked the government to postpone the Games until next year over the same reason.

Syaiful, a National Awakening Party (PAN) politician, also said that the current circumstances were not conducive for the construction of several unfinished sporting venues in the host province.

“Based on the latest information, there are still several venues that aren’t ready yet, so their development needs to be sped up,” Syaiful said as quoted by tempo.co.

“If the airports and ports are closed, this means construction materials can’t be transported to Papua, which disrupts the building process.”

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