Prabowo agrees to multi-year National Training Center, accelerating preparations for the Olympics to the Asian Games

Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir. (Teddy Kurniawan VOI)

BOGOR - President Prabowo Subianto has approved a long-term or multi-year funding scheme for the national training center (pelatnas). This step is considered important so that athlete training is no longer dependent on the annual budget cycle.

The Chairman of the PSSI, who is also the Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir, said that the support was conveyed by the President when he received a report on the preparation of national sports in Hambalang, Bogor, Friday (19/6).

According to Erick, the President immediately asked for follow-up after hearing the need for long-term athlete training.

"I conveyed to the President that the national agenda could not be budgeted per year. It must be multiyears. And the President agreed," said Erick.

He explained that coaching athletes towards the SEA Games, Asian Games, and even the Olympics requires certainty of programs in the long term.

Erick assessed that the need was increasingly urgent because many young Indonesian athletes were beginning to show achievements at the international level. He cited the achievements of young Indonesian chess players who defeated Magnus Carlsen, the emergence of motor racing talent, to young skateboard athletes who began to compete at the world level.

In addition to the national team, the President also supports the development of a national sports academy that will recruit athletes from elementary school age.

"Who will be the athletes in the future, from the age of 8 to 10 years, they have started to be trained," he said.

During the meeting, the President also asked about the progress of the athlete pension fund program which is still being prepared by the government.

According to Erick, all of these policies are part of efforts to build the foundation of Indonesian sports sustainably, not just pursuing short-term achievements.