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Palembang encouraged to stay busy as RI has Olympic bid in mind
Early bird: A general view of the Jakabaring Sport City complex in Palembang, South Sumatra as seen from above
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arly bird: A general view of the Jakabaring Sport City complex in Palembang, South Sumatra as seen from above. Palembang, one of a few cities in the country that is interested in hosting sporting events, has been maintaining its venues as Indonesia prepares to bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.(JP/Yulia Savitri)
As one of the few cities with the capacity to host a multisport event and experience in doing so, South Sumatra’s Palembang is strongly encouraged to stay on its A-game as Indonesia has officially planned to bid for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.
In a discussion on the Olympic bid plan held at Sriwijaya University on Thursday, Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S. Dewa Broto urged all elements in the province to make full use of Jakabaring Sport City (JSC) in Palembang in line with the country’s ambitious plan.
Currently, only Jakarta and Palembang have the potential to be host cities for such a grand event as the Olympics.
Keeping JSC busy with various activities is hoped not only to prevent the complex from deteriorating, but also to serve as long-term preparation should Indonesia win the bid.
Gatot said JSC could be used for national training camps for several sports federations as it had international-scale venues, which were used for the 2018 Asian Games and 2011 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, among other events.
“It doesn’t mean that we have to move all national training camps here. JSC already has venues for beach volleyball, bowling, rowing. I mean, it’s better to use them rather than building new venues,” he said.
Former West Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin, who also attended the discussion, said the province had hosted 48 sport events — including the Islamic Solidarity Games, the SEA Games and the Asian Games — over the past decade.
In 2019, there are at least five sports events scheduled to be held in the province.
“We have thought about how to maintain JSC after the Asian Games. It’s better if [some of the] national training camps are located in the complex.
“West Sumatra has also been named by the Tourism Ministry as [one of the provinces] to focus [on developing] sports tourism,” Alex said.
Indonesia officially joined the bidding to host the 2032 Olympics by submitting a letter of interest signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to the International Olympic Committee on Feb. 11.
China, Australia and Korea are among the big-time contenders as they have expressed interest in hosting the Games.
Gatot said that Indonesia should not settle for just hosting the Asian Games, which was lauded as a success both in the running of the event and in terms of Indonesia’s sporting achievement, with the host finishing fourth with 31 gold medals.
“Regarding the athletes’ welfare, it was the first time in history that the bonuses for athletes were distributed before the event was finished. This means that there’s encouragement for the athletes to achieve at the international level,” he added.
