The Total Indonesian Contingent For The 2021 SEA Games Hanoi Becomes 497 Athletes After Futsal Confirmed To Participate

Indonesian futsal team (Instagram @federasifutsal_id)

JAKARTA - The total number of Indonesian athletes who will be sent to the SEA Games Hanoi 2021 will be 497. This number increased after the futsal sport (sports) was included in the biennial event.

In the first announcement on March 30, the Indonesian contingent sent was 476 out of 31 sports. At that time, futsal was not included because it was considered to have minimal achievements.

However, futsal was finally dispatched following their achievement as runner-up in the AFF Cup earlier this month. The addition of futsal automatically increases the athlete's quota as well as the number of sports.

"Of the 32 sports, futsal (men) is already in it, a total of 497 athletes, 214 officials, and 34 disciplines, so that's what we have prepared and departed," said Indonesian Contingent Chef de Mission (CdM) Ferry Kono at the Wisma Kemenpora on Monday, 18 April 2022.

The departure of the Indonesian contingent to Hanoi will begin on May 2. Some sports have to go there first because there are certain numbers that will be contested before the opening.

Meanwhile, a large group of Red and White contingents will be flown on May 10 or May 11. President Joko Widodo plans to release the Indonesian contingent to the biennial event.

"Indeed, there are many things that cannot be said to be final. Examples of accommodation for athletes have not yet been determined," said Ferry.

The efficiency of athletes carried out by the government automatically affects the number of gold medals that will be obtained. It is likely that Indonesia will lose 30 gold medals from the total obtained in the previous edition in the Philippines 2019.

The Vietnam SEA Games will take place on May 12-23 in Hanoi and several other cities. A total of 40 sports will be competed in 526 numbers.