Jakarta, 14 May 2024
After repeatedly holding separate coordination meetings to discuss doping control in order to support the successful efforts of the 2024 PON (National Sports Games) which will be organized in Aceh Province and North Sumatra Province, the final coordination meeting finally was held on May 14th, 2024. The meeting was initiated by the National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI) on its position as the Supervisory and Steering Committee of the 2024 National Sports Games. Previously the meetings were more separate meeting, for example IADO was with the North Sumatra Regional Government and on another occasion with the Aceh Regional Government only. In addition, on other occasions several times with the National Sports Committee of Indonesia and also the Ministry of Health (although in fact it was also attended by representatives of the National Sports Committee of Indonesia, the Aceh Regional Government and the North Sumatra Regional Government and of course IADO). There was once a joint meeting with the National Sports Committee of Indonesia, Aceh Regional Government and North Sumatra Regional Government on May 7th, 2024, however the meeting was in a virtual format so the results were less optimal.
For IADO and all parties, of course, have agreed that the implementation of the 2024 National Sports Games is only a few months away and that requires finalizing preparations in all fields optimally. It is true that the 2024 National Sports Games in Aceh and North Sumatra will be the first National Sports Games held in two provinces as a follow-up to Government Regulation of No. 7 of 2020 on Amendments to the Government Regulation of No. 17 of 2007 on the Organization of Sports Games and Championships. As a consequence, more special preparation is needed to its preparations, compared for holding the previous National Sports Games which were held in just one province, because everyone certainly hopes that the 2024 National Sports Games will be successful, have an orderly administration, show a number of proud sporting achievements and have a positive impact on the surrounding public and stakeholders.
Specifically for the meeting on May 14th, 2024, all parties agreed to immediately follow up in the form of signing an MoU between IADO and the Organizing Committees. To be certain, each party is appealed to correct the substance of the MoU, so IADO has provided a draft MoU to be assessed first by both the Aceh Regional Government and the North Sumatra Regional Government. It is hoped that the signing of the MoU could be held this week or at least next week. Indeed, the main problem still remains related to budget limitations, where IADO has tried to make a number of efficiencies and on the other hand, both the Aceh Regional Government and the North Sumatra Regional Government are trying to fulfill a number of limited budget increases with the aim of fulfilling the obligations set out in the World Anti-Doping Code and several other related regulations.
IADO always said at various meetings that currently the doping control paradigm has changed. Until the 2021 National Sports Games in Papua, only testing activities was still be permitted, but currently this is not possible, because WADA certainly requires that not only the majority continue testing, while the other mandatory ones are education and investigation. Fortunately, both the Central KONI, the Aceh Regional Government and the North Sumatra Regional Government agreed with the WADA paradigm, although the parties should adjust their budgets on certain matters.