JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir, a well-known figure in sports management in Indonesia, accompanied president-elect Prabowo Subianto over the weekend to meet International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach in France as Indonesia dreams of one day hosting the Olympics.
The meeting took place several days after the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics began.
The sporting event will run until Aug. 11. In pictures he posted on Instagram, Erick appears sitting alongside Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo and National Olympic Committee (NOC) chair Raja Sapta “Okto” Oktohari as Prabowo converses with Bach.
“We explained in the meeting about Indonesia’s potential to host international-level sporting events, including the Olympics in the future,” Erick, who chairs the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), wrote on Instagram on Sunday.
It was not the first time Indonesian government representatives made a bid to host the world’s biggest sporting event.
In 2022, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the country would be ready to host the 2036 Summer Olympics in the planned future capital of Nusantara, which is still under construction.
After this year’s edition in Paris, the next Summer Olympics are slated to be held in Los Angeles, the United States, in 2028 and in Brisbane, Australia, in 2032.
The host of the 2036 Olympics has yet to be announced. Alongside Indonesia, India and Turkey, among other nations, have bid for hosting duties that year.
Though Indonesia has never hosted the Olympics before, it has hosted some international sporting events in recent years, including the Asian Games in 2018, the FIFA U-17 World Cup and the FIBA Basketball World Cup in late 2023.
It lost hosting rights for the U-20 World Cup last year following a backlash against the Israeli national team’s participation in the tournament.
“Prabowo’s love for sports makes him want to see Indonesia become a stage for world-class events again,” Erick wrote on Instagram. “When there is a will, there is a way.”
On Friday in Paris, Prabowo, as well as Erick and Okto, attended the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in a show of support for the Indonesian contingent, as the country hopes for several medal wins from the 29 athletes competing in 12 sports, the highest number in the past two decades.
In a photo uploaded to Instagram, Prabowo, currently the defense minister, is seen wearing a translucent rain poncho with the hood down and appears to be looking toward a seating section. The Eiffel Tower stands tall in the background against overcast skies in the French capital.
Fourteen athletes and officials from the Indonesian contingent participated in the Parade of Nations during the 2024 Summer Games opening ceremony, including chef de mission Anindya Novyan Bakrie and judoka Maryam March Maharani, who served as Indonesia’s flag bearer.
The Indonesian contingent’s Java-themed uniforms were created by Prabowo’s designer son Ragowo “Didit” Hediprasetyo Djojohadikusumo, who made his international debut in Paris over a decade ago and was reportedly inspired by the clothing style of renowned 19th-century painter Raden Saleh.
The Indonesian participants shared a boat with members of the Indian and Iranian contingents to sail down the River Seine in the opening ceremony, which departed from the traditional, terrestrial Olympic openers.
In a video uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Defense Ministry on Saturday, Prabowo stands and waves to the Indonesian contingent as its boat sails near where he is seated.
In Paris, Prabowo, accompanied by Erick and Dito, also visited FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the office of the world soccer governing body.
“We discussed FIFA’s fantastic working relationship with Indonesia and the PSSI and the fantastic progress that has been made by his beautiful country in recent times.
We also talked about leveraging football’s popularity among the youth population,” Infantino said in a press release. “Indonesia was a fantastic host of the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year and everyone who visited, including myself, was struck by the warmth and hospitality.
It was also clear that Indonesians live and breathe football,” he added. Two days before the Olympics opening ceremony, Prabowo met with French President Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace and congratulated him on France hosting this year’s Summer Games, according to the ministry’s statement.
They also reportedly discussed global security issues and bilateral relations. As defense minister, Prabowo has visited Paris several times in recent years. – The Jakarta Post/ANN
