Menpora Promises Not To Make A Difference Between Bonuses For Olympic And Paralympic Athletes

JAKARTA - Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainudin Amali promised the government would not differentiate between facilitation and appreciation between athletes competing in the Olympics and Paralympics.

This was conveyed by Zainudin when welcoming the return of lifters Ni Nengah Widiasih and Muhammad Fadli Imammuddin accompanied by para-cycling coach Fadilah Umar and para-powerlifting coach Yanti at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Saturday, August 28 evening.

“The government does not discriminate between athletes participating in the Olympics and Paralympics. The attention is the same, the facilitation is the same because they come there on behalf of the nation and state," said Zainudin as quoted by Antara.

The government's attention to disabled and non-disabled athletes, explained by Zainudin, is the same. The government has even facilitated athletes for the Paralympics since they participated in the national training in Solo in preparation for the 2020 ASEAN Para Games which were finally canceled.

If there is no difference with the Olympic medalists, the Tokyo Paralympic gold medalists will receive a bonus of Rp5.5 billion, silver Rp2.5 billion, and bronze Rp1.5 billion.

Bonuses are also given not only to medal winners but also to all athletes competing in Tokyo. Each athlete is likely to get Rp100 million.

Meanwhile, Ni Nengah Widiasih thanked the government for the attention and assistance that had been given to the Indonesian NPC athletes in preparation for the Paralympics. "Hopefully, other athletes who will still be competing in Tokyo can fly as many red and white flags as possible, and hopefully, the Indonesia Raya anthem can be heard there," said the woman who is familiarly called Widi.

The Indonesian contingent has so far won three medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, namely one silver and two bronze.

The silver medal was donated by Ni Nengah Widiasih from the women's 41kg class para-powerlifting, and two bronze medals from Saptoyogo Purnomo in the men's 100m para-athletic event T37 and David Jacobs from the men's individual table tennis table tennis branch.

The Red and White squad has the opportunity to increase their medal tally, especially through the para-badminton branch which is the main focus and is targeted to contribute one gold and one silver medal.