“I would like to propose a vaccination [program] for athletes and coaches,” he told antaranews.com on Sunday. 

He hoped the vaccination program would help to resume the country’s sports activities. 

Moreover, Zainudin reasoned that the vaccination program was important for those who were currently preparing to take part in national or international tournaments. 

Zainudin expressed his hope that sports stakeholders, especially heads of sports organizations, would respond well to his proposal. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Indonesian sports to postpone a host of major events. 

Read also: Indonesian sports adjust to survive pandemic

The Soccer Association of Indonesia's (PSSI) executive committee announced in October that it would cancel all soccer matches in 2020 following the National Police's decision not to issue a permit for the leagues amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

All soccer matches for Indonesia’s top-tier, second-tier, and third-tier soccer leagues, namely Liga 1, 2 and 3, would not resume until 2021, PSSI acting secretary-general Yunus Nusi said, adding that a meeting had decided that the PSSI would call a halt to all competitions in 2020. 

“The competitions will be resumed in early 2021," Yunus said.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) withdrew its players from this year’s Thomas and Uber Cup championships due to concerns over their safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In a statement issued in September, the association said participating in the biennial event, set to be held from Oct. 3 to 11 in Aarhus, Denmark, might expose athletes and team officials to infection while traveling or even at the venue. 

Athletes and officials also voiced their concerns over the lack of guarantees from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on who would take responsibility for the team members if one of them caught the disease.

The pandemic has also affected athletes' mental and physical health.  

Read also: PSSI to postpone Indonesian soccer leagues until 2021

Despite her recent achievements in two championships in Brisbane, Australia, rising Indonesian swimming star Elysha Chloe Pribadi said, “This whole COVID-19 situation has troubled me, mentally and physically.”

“My preparations over the past year were basically ruined, as I had to stop training for 10 weeks due to the pandemic in Australia,” Elysha said in a statement, adding that she did not have a pool at her house, which forced her to train on dry land.

However, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo found a silver lining in the health crisis, saying that the pandemic should be used as an opportunity to “reinvent” the national sports ecosystem.

Speaking during a virtual event to mark National Sports Day, which falls each year on Sept. 9, the President said the current circumstances presented a ripe opportunity for far-reaching, system-wide reform to salvage the sports industry, particularly as physical contact was being actively discouraged to protect the public's health. (jes) 

 

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.