Asian Para Games Opening Ceremony Will Match Asian Games’: INAPGOC

Chairman of INAPGOC Raja Oktohari and Minister of Youth and Sports Imam Nahrawi on press release at Bogor Presidential Palace, Bogor, Friday (7/9). (Photo by: Jay/Public Relations)

The Indonesia Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC), the organizer of the 2018 Asian Para Games III, has pledged to present an opening ceremony that is as attractive as the opening ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony.

The Para Games will be held in Jakarta and Bogor from 6 to 13 October.

“We will present the opening ceremony in a different form,” INAPGOC Chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari told reporters after a Limited Cabinet Meeting at Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Friday (7/9).

Unlike the opening ceremony of 2018 Asian Games opening which displayed the grandeur of Indonesia, according to Raja Okto, the opening ceremony of the Para Games will be focused on displaying Indonesia’s humanity.

He added that the INAPGOC is ready to welcome guests who will be present at the Para Games, consisting of approximately 5,000 athletes and officials, including 1,100 wheelchairs users, 8,000 volunteers, 5,000 field workers, and 800 reporters from national and international media.

Regarding President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s hope on free tickets for disabled people, Raja Okto said that the INAPGOC would provide them.

“The free tickets for disabled people will be distributed among communities which have been previously registered,” Raja Okto said.

In the meantime, Minister of Youth and Sports Imam Nahrawi said the President really wanted the atmosphere of excitement of all Indonesian people on the recent Asian Games could be continued in the Asian Para Games.

The President, Nahrawi continued, has also asked the organizer to maximize its capacity to welcome the guests, so that the athletes from approximately 42 Asian countries will be happier, more enthusiastic, more comfortable, and motivated to compete in the Games.

Regarding medal target, Nahrawi expects Indonesia’s contingents can be in top 7, with approximately 16-19 gold medals from 18 sports contested. He added that at the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, Indonesia were placed on ninth rank.

“All preparations have been made and the President is really concerned to see that the national training camp must be observed in detail: all athletes’ needs can be fulfilled, training and competing equipment can also be complete. We have prepared it well,” the Minister said.

For bonuses, according to Nahrawi, the President is really concerned about the plan of giving bonuses that are equivalent to bonus given to Asian Games athletes. “The bonuses, including additional bonuses, will be the same as the one given for Asian Games athletes,” he concluded.

Matches venues in the Asian Para Games will be in Gelora Bung Karno Jakarta, JIExpo Kemayoran, and Sentul Circuit in Bogor. In the meantime, all Para Games athletes will be accommodated in Kemayoran Athlete Village in Central Jakarta. (DNA/EN/JAY/ES) (GWH/EP/Naster)