Indonesia Seeks Approval to Remove Some Sports From 2018 Asian Games
Jakarta. Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who heads the steering committee of the 2018 Asian Games, said he will talk with the Olympic Council of Asia to discuss the possibility of reducing the number of sports that will be contested at next year's event to 36 from 42.
The committee previously agreed that 42 sport disciplines would be contested at the Games, but as the host, Indonesia reserves the right to alter that number.
"We have the right to choose which sports will be contested in next year's competition," Kalla said on Tuesday (11/04).
"After recommendations from Satlak Prima [Indonesia's special task force for high-performance sports], Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi suggested that we reduce the number of competitions," Kalla said. He explained that OCA will make a final decision in the coming weeks.
According to Kalla, the move to reduce the number sports is intended to mitigate the cost of hosting the event.
"We've considered two factors to decide whether or not a sport should be eliminated – if it is uncommon or if it is hard [for Indonesian athletes] to win medals," he said.
However, Kalla said Olympic sports will remain a priority, especially those that were contested at the 2016 Rio Games.
Minister Imam previously proposed the elimination of handball and rugby from the competition, while plans to remove cricket, sepak takraw (kick-volleyball), kabaddi and squash are also considered.
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