The government has promised billions rupiah and a lifetime monthly pension allowance as incentive for Indonesian athletes to contribute to the medal count in the upcoming 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil, a minister confirmed on Wednesday.

The Youth and Sports Ministry are prepared to give Rp 5 billion (US$ 376,790) to each athlete that is awarded with a gold medal in the Olympics, Rp 2 billion for an athlete that wins a silver medal and Rp 1 billion for those that win a bronze medal, Minister Imam Nahrawi said. The government will also provide gold, silver and bronze medal winners with a Rp 20 million, Rp 15 million or a Rp 10 million monthly pension allowance, respectively.

"We don't want that to be the sole motivation for victory. [We want] the determination to arise from a desire to achieve their personal best. The bonus is for support," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Jokowi administration is to be the first Indonesian government to offer a pension to Olympic medal-winning athletes, he said. The Ministry will urge private and or state-owned companies to consider offering a similar allowance to medal-winning athletes at events such as Asian Games, SEA games, and National Games (PON), Imam added.

Indonesia has collected 27 medals since the 1988 Seoul Olympics in South Korea.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by The Jakarta Post

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