During the pandemic people across the country started cycling, jogging and hiking in order to improve their physical condition. However, on the other side, the Golkar Party politician has also noticed that the pandemic had emptied sports’ finest stages and, thus, forced athletes to keep training rather than competing.

The latest blow to the Indonesian sports community was the postponement of the soccer U-20 World Championship, which was earlier slated for 2021, but then FIFA, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the main reason, decided to postpone it to 2023. The decision was made on Christmas Eve. 

Commenting on this, Zainudin said the government comprehended the reason behind the postponement but then acknowledged that the government would need to discuss the subsequent plan.

“We understand the reason but then we need to gather and further discuss with local stakeholders to discuss technicalities like the age of our players and all the preparation work that is currently ongoing,” he said.

Zainudin added that, aside from the latest postponement, Indonesian athletes had faced postponements since March. 

“We have seen the cancelation of the 10th ASEAN Para Games in Manila and the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, among other events, due to the virus. These very specific conditions forced our athletes to adjust their routines and keep practicing to stay in shape, physically and mentally,” Zainudin told The Jakarta Post recently.

The 10th ASEAN Para Games was postponed twice, in January and in March, because of technical reasons and the pandemic, respectively. The event’s original schedule was in October 2019.

Muhammad Rian Prahasta, a para-table tennis athlete who trained at the national training camp in Surakarta, Central Java, conceded that aside from pursuing his dream and practicing, he had prepared himself for the worst-case scenario.

“I have prepared my physical condition, sharpened my skills through dedicated training programs, so I can compete with other athletes to win. But I have also prepared myself for the worst-case situation so that I can still stay in touch with reality and survive,” he said during a discussion with the Post in December last year.

Rian said he would return to his hometown in West Java and continue his home business if his sporting dreams ended up being canceled.

The Philippines organizers finally decided to officially cancel the 10th ASEAN Para Games in May when it learned that the COVID-19 pandemic was getting worse.

When asked about how Indonesia’s para-athletes were doing after news of the official cancelation, Indonesian National Paralympic Committee president Senny Marbun acknowledged that they were disappointed but “are going to be just fine”.

“They just need more time to heal, to digest the situation,” he said.

Zainudin acknowledged that not only the para-athletes were left disappointed, but other athletes were also feeling the same way as the sporting world’s biggest tournament, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had also been postponed for a year for the same reason.

He conceded that the biggest challenge for the government and sports associations was to keep the morale of the athletes high, sending the message that this pandemic, too, shall pass. He then called for a series of meetings with other sports stakeholders to discuss the possible ways to prevent things from getting worse.

 “Given the situation, we have encouraged all athletes to practice at home. Many of them were practicing online in the first few months [of the pandemic],” Zainudin said.

Cancellations have been the name of the game in sports, so nothing happened during the first five months since the March announcement of the first COVID-19 cases. The country’s soccer leagues, the first tier Liga 1 and the second tier Liga 2, were also put on hold.

The absence of the professional leagues has taken a toll as players, who were receiving only 30 to 50 percent of their monthly salaries, started to find ways to keep playing soccer and earn extra money. For example, there is an amateur, inter-village league called Tarkam that some professional players have joined for some extra cash.

Local players who play with top clubs could get Rp 3 million (US$213.45) per match while their expatriate teammates usually get Rp 4 million to Rp 5 million per match.

Redi Rusmawan, Persita Tangerang winger, has been playing in the Tarkam competitions. He reasoned that he could maintain his fitness and his longing for a true competition by playing in some Tarkam matches.

“There is nothing wrong with this, as long as I can measure the risks and avoid any contact that could cause critical injuries,” he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Jacksen F. Thiago, the coach of leading soccer club Persipura Jayapura FC, told kompas.com  that playing in some Tarkam competitions would only cause damage both to the player’s physical condition and mentality.

He reasoned that playing in an amateur tournament like Tarkam, which may not have the same rules and regulations, could make a professional player disorientated.

“It could tarnish their discipline and ethics. If they get injured, they may lose the opportunity to play in real competitions later on,” Jacksen said.

Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S. Dewobroto acknowledged that the unfavorable situation has become the main reason for many players to play in Tarkam competition.

“This has been among our main concerns. Playing in some Tarkam competitions could inflict injuries on players. And if this happens to many of them, then it could disrupt the [professional] competitions,” he said.

Gatot also questioned the permits for those matches, which are issued by the police and have been given out carefully during the pandemic.

The situation gets even more confusing as the Soccer Association of Indonesia’s (PSSI) efforts to organize the professional leagues have been denied by the police. The PSSI, along with soccer league operator PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB), sought to resume Liga 1 and Liga 2 in September. However, the police denied their permits on account of high COVID-19 infection rates in the country.

PSSI spokesman Eko Rahmawanto explained that the PSSI had been ready to comply with strict health protocols, which mandate that all matches be played without spectators and that all players, managers and officials are tested before, during and after each game.

“We have been doing all we can to comply, but the police apparently have different considerations.”

Ignatius Indro, Indonesian National Team Supporters Association chief, also said that supporters were fine with the fact that they were not allowed to come to the stadium.

“I think the supporters have been mature enough to obey the rules,” he said.

However, Gatot acknowledged that the risks were still too high to let the soccer competitions resume.

“Who can guarantee that the supporters, who are not allowed to enter the stadium, don’t make a scene or regroup outside?”

He warned that the PSSI would face the responsibility if anything happened to the country’s soccer competitions.

The PSSI plans to continue the league in February next year, but that will entirely depend on the COVID-19 situation.

Facing a similar situation but somewhat luckier are badminton players, who also saw their competitions postponed. The biggest, aside from the Olympics stage, was the Thomas and Uber Cup. The leading and prestigious competition, which takes place in Denmark, was originally slated for May but was then postponed to August, before finally, the organizers gave up after many top shuttlers, including from Indonesia, did not attend the event over COVID-19 fears.

Former Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary-general Achmad Budiharto said the Indonesian contingent had planned to go to Denmark but decided not to at the last minute. Some players said it would be better for them not to attend the event because of the pandemic.

“Then, we come to the conclusion that we should stay [home] instead of going there because nobody could guarantee that the journey would be virus-free, despite all the strict health protocols that we had applied to ourselves,” Achmad said.

According to the latest announcement made by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the 2020 Thomas and Uber Tournament will be held in Denmark in October 2021.

Back home, all the professional shuttlers continued practicing under the National Training Camp scheme at the PBSI’s Cipayung facilities in East Jakarta. As a replacement, in-house tournaments were organized to keep players motivated.

Commenting on this, Gatot said that right now, all athletes who had qualified for next year’s Tokyo Olympics were practicing at the National Training Camp.

“They are on the right track; keep practicing while being tightly monitored,” he said.

However, not everyone agrees, with Indonesian Sports Scientist Association head Joko Pekik Irianto acknowledging that the athletes’ fitness was certainly decreasing because they do not meet the minimum 18 hours of physical training per week requirement.

“Our athletes cannot train the way they used to. Therefore, a lot of catching up programs are required so their prime condition can be restored.”

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