Ministry of Youth and Sports Raises Hope for Sports Revival in Jakabaring

After the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the condition of several sports arenas in the Jakabaring Sports Complex or JSC in Palembang, South Sumatra is concerning. The Ministry of Youth and Sports intends to bring national and international championships to Jakabaring to revive the sports scene there.

"JSC has experience in organizing several sports events from PON (2004) to the Asian Games (2018). To ensure that the existing facilities are well-maintained, we will identify which national and international championships can be brought here. This will help sustain the assets and the vibrancy of sports here," said Minister of Youth and Sports Dito Ariotedjo during his visit to JSC on Wednesday (12/2/2025).

Dito acknowledged that as a legacy of the 2018 Asian Games, JSC has become one of the best and most complete sports complexes in Indonesia. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2023, the vibrancy of sports activities at JSC has gradually faded.

Based on Kompas' monitoring, before the Covid-19 pandemic, JSC routinely held large-scale national and international sporting events. However, during and after the pandemic, JSC was almost never considered to host large-scale events. This situation also caused several arenas or facilities at JSC to receive less attention.

Dito stated that, to maintain its sustainability, the sports assets at JSC must be regularly utilized as hosts for both national and international sports events. On that basis, his party coordinated with the Chairman of PSSI Erick Thohir to hold the national team's international agenda at the newly renovated Gelora Sriwijaya Jakabaring Stadium for the 2023 U-20 World Cup before it was canceled by FIFA.

In addition, Dito invited PB PASI (athletics) and the Indonesian Aquatics Federation to hold championships in Jakabaring. Moreover, the Athletics Stadium and the Aquatics Stadium at JSC are already of international standard. On the other hand, it is also possible to hold a BMX world championship series there.

He assessed that the conditions of the venues at JSC are still quite good and already of international standard. "So, we are trying to find and attract several national or international championships here so that the existing facilities can continue to be maximized. The most likely events to be brought here in the near future are national football team matches, athletics championships, aquatic championships, and BMX world championship series," he continued.

Dito stated that his party also received information that there is an investor intending to build a golf course at JSC. According to him, this opportunity should also be maximized as it can become an additional source of income and increase the attractiveness of sports there.

"JSC already has good and complete facilities. The next step is to increase the number of sports activities here," he said. The more activities that are organized, the more additional income will be generated to maintain the existing facilities, and it can also revive the enthusiasm for sports.

The Marketing and Operations Director of PT JSC, Geri Radityo, stated that after touring together for approximately 45 minutes, the Minister of Youth and Sports confirmed that the international football team matches will be held at Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, JSC in 2026.

For this year, the Ministry of Youth and Sports is committed to bringing the jetski championship to JSC as a warm-up for the 2025 Jetski World Championship series in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, which usually takes place at the end of the year. The jetski championship can be held at Lake Jakabaring, which has previously held several national and international jetski championships, and has experience in holding the 2018 Asian Games rowing competition.

JSC already has good and complete capital facilities. The next thing is how to increase sports activities here.

Then, the Ministry of Youth and Sports will invite PB Pelti (court tennis) to create a regular championship and hold a national training camp at JSC. Because, JSC has 16 international standard tennis courts. "JSC is the only sports complex in Indonesia that has 16 international standard tennis courts and is centralized," said Geri.

Regarding the investor's plan to build a golf course in JSC, Geri said that his party welcomed the intention. Moreover, there are still few representative golf courses in Palembang, practically only the Kenten Palembang Golf Course which is one of the oldest golf courses in Indonesia built in the colonial era in 1926.

The plan is for the JSC golf course to be built on approximately 80 hectares of land on the shores of Lake Jakabaring. "The existence of a golf course can significantly increase additional income because the enthusiasm for playing golf in Palembang is quite high, such as the Kenten Golf Course which is always full in the morning and evening," said Geri.

After the visit of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Geri said that his party must maintain communication regarding the plans or jemput bola. The goal is so that the plans can be realized immediately. "Earlier, we were asked to continue to maintain communication. Later, we will come to Jakarta to discuss further the plans, aka jemput bola. Don't let communication break down so that the plans are not realized," he said.

According to Geri, the visit of the Minister of Youth and Sports greatly helped his party to revive the sports movement in JSC. The Minister of Youth and Sports can bridge the communication of JSC managers and sports branch administrators in Indonesia to bring the championship to JSC.

So far, due to the limitations of its main tasks and functions, JSC management has not been able to organize sports championships on its own. The organization of the championship is the authority of the relevant branch management. "With the support of the Minister of Youth and Sports, we hope that coordination with branch management will be better and they can hold activities here more often," said Geri.

With more sports activities being held at JSC, it will greatly help finance the maintenance of the arena. Moreover, since 2021, JSC no longer receives subsidies from the South Sumatra Provincial Budget. As a BUMD, JSC is asked to actively seek its own sources of income for their operations.

However, due to minimal income from sports activities, JSC management finally implemented a priority scale in asset maintenance. They focused on maintenance for arenas that were often rented or used, including soccer fields and tennis courts.

On the other hand, for rarely used arenas, such as shooting ranges, beach volleyball courts, and roller skating tracks, they are barely touched by maintenance. "If we maintain or repair everything, it will cost a lot of money. So, we apply a priority scale, which arenas are often used, those are the ones we routinely repair," explained Geri.

Due to the lack of government subsidies and minimal sports activities, Geri said, his party presents many entertainment activities at JSC, such as music concerts, bazaars, and festivals. Various entertainment activities also become the backbone for maintaining the arenas that are often rented.

"JSC's estimated operational costs reach Rp 20 billion per year, including maintenance of arenas that are often rented or used. The operational costs are mostly covered by entertainment activities, such as music concerts," said Geri.

Previously, Acting Governor of South Sumatra Elen Setiadi hoped that JSC managers would not only focus on managing assets, but also think about contributing to developing Palembang and South Sumatra's sporting achievements. For that, managers were asked to be more active in creating sporting activities outside of the championships from branch administrators or KONI.

Now, the important thing is to hold championships here regularly, even though not 100 percent in all existing arenas.

In addition, JSC managers are asked not to just wait for a championship offer there, but to be more active in offering themselves or asking for the championship to be held in their place. If they just wait, maybe someone wants to hold a championship but if they take the initiative, of course the opportunity for the championship to be held will be greater.

Sports observer Fritz E Simanjuntak said, after being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, what JSC needs is to restore public trust. If they return to actively holding championships, it will attract the attention of the public, athletes, sports administrators, and sponsors to look again at Jakabaring.

"Now, what is important is to routinely hold championships here even though not 100 percent in all existing arenas. The championships should not only be national, but if possible international. That is very important to build public trust that Jakabaring still exists and is worthy of use," said Fritz.

With its experience in organizing various large-scale sporting events, from PON 2004, SEA Games 2011, Islamic Solidarity Games 2013, to Asian Games 2018, the quality of the arena or facilities at JSC is truly unquestionable. Don't let the various facilities built at great expense become just a "temple" of the glory of Jakabaring sports in the past.