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thletes and officials doubt that the government could successfully hold the 2019 Asian Games, although the Youth and Sports Ministry has insisted upon launching a bid.

The government has been asked to think carefully in terms of when to host a bigger event, given the fact that no evaluation of the recent 26th SEA Games has yet been made.

The country’s number one beach volleyball player, Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro, said the government needs to start preparation early to avoid the various delays that plagued the recent Games.

“Just pick one city to host the event, where the athletes’ village is located near the venues,” Koko told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

“We also heard so many complaints from other countries’ athletes about the food served in the athletes’ village during the event,” said Koko, who with partner Andy Ardiyansyah was a silver medalist at the 2002 Asian Games, held in Busan, South Korea.

“The menu did not have much variety and some foreign athletes found a worm in their dish. What was that about?” he added.

Koko, who has competed in several multi-sporting events, also regretted the bad transportation service at the recent games.

“In my past experiences during several SEA Games, Asian Games or Asian Beach Games, basic services were all well managed. In Thailand, they had everything we needed in the athletes’ village, so we did not have to go out [of the complex].”

“Indonesians tend to procrastinate; it also happened during the SEA Games. The government needs to prepare better, because it’s us who are shamed when we’re not ready as host,” added Koko.

The recent SEA Games was considered successful in terms of sporting achievements, but organizers have been taunted with complaints over the lack of venue preparation, which has affected many events and schedules and even the accommodation of the athletes and officials.

However, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng reaffirmed on Thursday that it was about time for Indonesia, who hosted 1962’s Asian Games, to host another Asian Games.

Separately, Phanny Tanjung, head of the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI), said that hosting international sporting games in two cities had meant a lot to both organizers and participants.

“Jakarta is a well developed city, especially in sports infrastructure. Instead of taking such a huge risk by appointing a less-developed city, why don’t hold it in Jakarta? It is realistic,” Phanny told the Post.

Although he admitted that the government had yet to evaluate the recent SEA Games, the Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Djoko Pekik Irianto said that the ministry had been fulfilling all needed documents for a new competition bid.

“In fact, we’re planning to send documents in relation to security and infrastructure to the Olympic Council of Asia tomorrow,” Djoko told the Post. “We’ve learned a lot from the organizing of previous competitions,” he added.