Efforts To Bring International Sports Events To Papua, KOI Chair: Not Just Tarkam

Chairman of KOI Raja Sapta Oktohari (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) Raja Sapta Oktohari promised to try to bring sports events at the Asian to international level to Cenderawasih Earth because of the complete sports facilities that the area now has.

The man who is familiarly called Okto praised the infrastructure facilities currently owned by Papua. He believes that the new face of Papua can become a magnet for Indonesia's new sports destinations in the future.

"The competition arena already exists, now how can we use it to hold international-standard events in the future, so it's not just a mere tarkam," said Okto in a press release, Monday, as reported by Antara.

Several sports facilities used for the implementation of the Papua PON have international standards, including the Lukas Enembe Main Stadium which has won class 1 certification from the International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF), the Aquatic Arena which also has the International Aquatic Federation (FINA) standard, and the Cricket Arena which has received accreditation from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Okto assessed that with this capital, Papua has the potential to become the heart of sports in the Asia Pacific as long as all facilities can be properly maintained after the implementation of PON. Its use must also be optimized by holding tournaments at the Asian or world level.

Okto is also committed to bringing international tournaments to be held in Papua so that they can produce great athletes of Asian and world class.

"The Indonesian Olympic Committee is currently active in picking up the ball to the International Federation, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in sports diplomacy efforts,"

"So that in the future Indonesia will not only be good at home, but also must be able to create international standard events. If we can, we will bring the Olympic qualifications to Papua," he said.