Being A Candidate For 2032 Olympics Host, Jokowi: Not Dashing

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that Indonesia's proposal to host the 2032 Olympics was not to show courage.

He conveyed this after a limited meeting regarding the plan to nominate Indonesia to host the 2032 Olympics at the Merdeka Palace with the ranks of the ministries.

"Hosting the Olympics is not something to be pretentious, but one way to improve the image and dignity of the nation," Jokowi said in a YouTube broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat, Wednesday, November 4.

Therefore, Jokowi asked his staff to make the nomination of the host a momentum to improve preparations so that the lack of sports infrastructure from previous sports events, such as the 2018 Asian Games.

This improvement is expected to outperform other 2032 Olympic host candidates, such as Australia, Germany, Korea Unification, Qatar, China and India.

"We must make this nomination as a momentum to organize ourselves to improve various things that have been lacking, starting from the preparation of sports infrastructure, athletic achievements, increasing global visibility as a city organizer, and so on," Jokowi explained.

It was previously known that Jokowi had expressed his desire to see Indonesia host a multi-year multievent for some time. Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI), Raja Sapta Oktohari, is optimistic that he can realize President Jokowi's ambition.

One of the reasons is Indonesia's success in holding the Asian Games and the 2018 Asian Para Games. Not to mention that Indonesia will host the U-20 World Cup. In addition, no country in Southeast Asia has ever been appointed to host the Olympics.

"It's time for Southeast Asia to host," said the man who is familiarly called Raja Okto.