REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia will put forth a proposal to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) before Mar 24 to reduce the number of sports from the initial 42 to 37 in the 2018 Asian Games.

This proposal is in line with the directives of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, as the Asian Games steering committee chairman, who has decided that the number of sports to be contested in the 2018 games must be equal to that in the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea. "Hence, we will discuss this proposal with the OCA," Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi stated after attending the Asian Games preparation meeting here on Wednesday.

The reduction in the number of sports is also related to budget that reaches Rp4 trillion. The vice president has specifically assigned Satlak Prima, a task force in charge of preparing athletes for the games, to review which sports should not be contested in the Asian Games to be held in Indonesia.

However, Nahrawi explained that the reduction will not affect Indonesia's target to finish eighth or 10th by winning 23 gold medals in Asia's biggest multi-sport competition.

Secretary of the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry Gatot S. Dewa Broto stated that Indonesia is not likely to win gold medals in the sports to be removed from the Asian Games. "These sports are not included in the Olympics as well. We will immediately inform the OCA about this to ensure there will be no change in the number of sports a year before the event takes place," he added.

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