However, more challenges await the bidding committee as the Tokyo Games offers fewer chances to garner support.

Even as the Olympics are expected to commence in the next two months, Indonesia is already knee-deep in preparations to catch up with Brisbane, which is currently the top contender for hosting the 2032 Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in February that it had picked the Australian city as “the preferred partner to start talks for the Games”, but Indonesia’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) is still forging ahead to win the race.

The country consolidated its bid last month with the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 9/2021 on the establishment of the Indonesia Bid Committee for the Olympic Games (INABCOG), a sign of its seriousness about becoming the first Olympics host from Southeast Asia.

To reinforce its plan, Indonesia NOC chief Raja Sapta “Okto” Oktohari says he fully realizes the importance of the upcoming Tokyo Games and had planned to turn it into an opportunity to promote Indonesia’s bid to other NOCs – even as more complications emerge.

Chief among these plans was to set up a national pavilion, Rumah Indonesia (House of Indonesia), to promote the country and Jakarta as a host city and canvas support from other Olympic participants.

The pavilion had previously been planned for construction at a strategic location inside the athletes village in Tokyo, but with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation looming in the background, the plan is likely to be ditched.

Read also: Indonesia to build ‘Indonesian Village’ during Tokyo Olympics to support 2032 bid

On Wednesday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that IOC president Thomas Bach said he was confident the measures put in place would enable a “safe and secure” Olympics, even as recent polls suggest the majority of the Japanese are against holding the games this summer.

The IOC has insisted that the Tokyo Games cannot be postponed again and the only other option was to cancel. Its officials were quoted by Olympic news website Inside the Games earlier this year as saying that participants’ mobility would thus be limited to just the sporting venues and the athletes village.

Knowing full well that opportunities to promote Indonesia’s 2032 bid are shrinking, Okto said his team would be using other means to raise awareness among contenders.

“We already have many plans to promote [Indonesia as an Olympic host] but we have to realize as well that we cannot be so intrusive as we face this extraordinary situation,” he said at a press conference earlier this month.

“We will still find ways to maximize our chances [with] lobbying. Tokyo will be a great opportunity to interact with other NOCs and draw some sympathy, as well as to prove that Indonesia is ready to host the 2032 Olympic Games.”

Visibility is key. Okto said the team was seeking to debut a pin with the design of Indonesia’s 2032 Olympics logo – a move borrowed from other countries such as Qatar, which featured a pin symbolizing its readiness to host the 2030 Asian Games during the bidding process.

“We have a tradition of exchanging pins during the Olympics. Besides exchanging the NOC’s pin, we would also like to give out the Indonesia 2032 pin,” said the former chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi).

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When asked about the risk of possibly facing something similar to the COVID-19 outbreak for its 2032 bid, Okto said he was already looking into contingency plans.

“People say a country that is ready to host the Olympics must also be ready to face the risks. God Willing, we will prepare a contingency plan. We will learn from Tokyo and Rio [de Janeiro, the host of the 2016 Games],” he said.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced Indonesia’s intention to host the 2032 Olympics on the margins of its successful hosting of the 2018 Asian Games.

The Indonesia NOC is currently deciding names to be included in the INABCOG task force who could help strengthen the country’s 2032 bid. Then, the committee would start work designing promotional materials and campaign activities as prescribed in last month’s decree.

Separately, Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali was optimistic that Jakarta would catch up to Brisbane in the race to become host city, partly owing to early preparation.

“We have a strong belief [in our bid] because we’ve seen the NOC prepare well in advance; they earnestly want us to be the host of the 2032 Games,” he said in a recent statement.

In addition to Australia, other countries vying for an opportunity to host the Olympics in 2032 include Qatar, which relaunched its bid in March, India and the joint effort between North and South Korea.