Imam Nahrawi (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)

The Youth and Sports Ministry will punish the 19 sports federations that failed to meet their medal targets in the 2018 Asian Games.

Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi revealed the plan during a meeting with the House Commission X overseeing education, sports and history in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Imam said the punishment would be in the form of reduced funding for the federations.

“We will reduce their funding. However, we will still provide assistance in regards to coaching staff as this is part of the government’s real action [in improving sporting achievement],” he told journalists after the meeting.

In this year’s development program, the sports federations are set to propose their budgets between January and April.

Imam’s statement was in response to demands by Commission X members, who thought only a few sports federations did their job well in the Games.

The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting was initially to discuss the ministry’s evaluation of the performance of the Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC), Indonesian Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC) and Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

Out of 53 federations participating in last year’s August-September Games, seven — including pencak silat, kurash, gymnastics and shooting — made a surprise by exceeding their targets. Pencak silat stood out by contributing a solid 14 gold medals to Indonesia’s tally of 31 golds, 24 silvers and 34 bronzes.

Meanwhile, nine federations — including badminton, taekwondo and weightlifting — met their medal targets.

The 19 federations — including golf, soft tennis and swimming — sunk in the Jakarta-Palembang Games as they failed to meet their own expectations.

Swimming, for example, had been targeted to win at least one bronze medal. During the Games, however, the Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI) failed to contribute a medal as its favorite I Gede Siman Sudartawa finished fifth in the men’s 50 meter backstroke, which is Siman’s specialty.

The remaining 18 sports federations did not have a medal target.

In the meeting, Imam also pointed out the importance of deploying junior athletes in this year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines as part of the country’s long-term plan for regeneration.

The ministry is expecting that 60 percent of the athletes in Team Indonesia will be below 23 years old in the upcoming SEA Games in the Philippines.

In the November-December Games, Imam said Indonesia would not aim too high, reasoning that the biennial multisport event usually features sports that only benefit the host team.

With that idea in mind, the ministry has targeted around 30 gold medals — less than the 38 medals collected in the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur. The Kuala Lumpur result was the worst in Indonesia’s SEA Games history.

“We’re already at the Asian Games and Olympics level as we have been successful, both in terms of hosting the event and in sporting achievement [in the 2018 Games].

“[We consider] the SEA Games an opportunity for our junior athletes to gain experience,” said Imam.

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