Ready or not, Games poised to open
The Southeast Asian Games officially open on Friday in Indonesia,
where beleaguered organisers have admitted to battling a slew of
problems including corruption, unfinished venues and poor ticket sales.
Eleven nations will contest sports from athletics and swimming to
sepak takraw - a cross between football and volleyball - in the biennial
Games held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Palembang in South
Sumatra.
The opening ceremony takes place in the city of Palembang, host of
the headline athletics and swimming events, and organisers are urging
sceptical Indonesians to get behind the November 11-22 showpiece.
Ticketing
"It is still hard to sell a sporting event (in Indonesia)," Agus
Mauro, a ticketing event official with organisers Inasoc, was quoted by
The Jakarta Globe as saying.
"We've been advertising the Games on television, billboards... but it
is still hard to sell match tickets." The football competition -
supposedly one of the big draws - has failed to pull crowds bigger than
a few thousand since it started on November 3, ahead of the official
start.
The sparse stands have added to a sense of foreboding shrouding the
26th edition of the Games that has been beset by problems since the
ruling party's treasurer allegedly pocketed $3 million in bribes from a
firm seeking tenders to build the athletes village, and then fled to
Colombia with the spoils.
Potential
And the potential for a shambolic start to the proceedings, echoing
the embarrassment heaped on India's Commonwealth Games, has been
heightened by the failure to finish venues or provide enough rooms for
athletes and visitors. Under the slogan "United and Rising", the SEA
Games were designed to showcase Indonesia's rise as a regional
powerhouse, with a booming economy backed by a massive 245 million
population.
Defiant organisers say the show will go on.
"It's God's will that the Games will run smoothly. We've been working
hard for a long time under difficult circumstances, but I'm confident
the Games will go well," Inasoc chairwoman Rita Subowo told AFP.
Bedecked
Jakarta has been bedecked with posters to plug the Games, with
enthusiastic volunteers swarming the centre of the city handing out free
roses and fliers to the passing traffic in a bid to drum up support.
Excited teams, dressed in distinctive national colours, filled major
hotels and strolled around the central business district ahead of the
opening, their minds on medal glory in the regional competition. But
reports from Palembang said last-minute work was still being carried out
to ensure the venues were ready for the start of the bulk of the
competitions on Saturday. In Jakarta, about 500 kilometres (300 miles)
away, there are concerns the capital's gridlocked roads will be made
impassable by the 12,000 athletes, officials and staff expected at the
Games, as well as thousands of spectators.
Painful
Motorists are braced for painful journeys as lanes are reserved for
athletes to get to Games venues on time, while schools will be closed
for the duration to help clear vehicles from the streets.
Although it will be largely ignored by the rest of the world, the
Games are big news in Southeast Asia, capturing the imagination of the
competing nations, with dozens of gold medals and regional bragging
rights up for grabs.
AFP |
