Jakarta. The government is in the process of drafting a regulation to establish a pension scheme as a reward for athletes who win medals in the Olympics, officials said on Monday.

Indonesian athletes are handsomely rewarded for their achievements in prestigious multi-sports events like the Asian Games or the Olympics. For instance, Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, who clinched gold in badminton women’s doubles at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, were each awarded Rp 5.5 billion ($343,000) in cash by the government.

The new proposal aims to introduce pension funds as an additional incentive, though the number of beneficiaries may be limited due to budgetary constraints.

"This scheme is specifically intended for Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalists. The Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games are not included," said Aris Darmansyah Edisaputra, a deputy for the coordinating minister for human development and culture.

The rationale behind this proposed pension scheme is to recognize Olympic medalists akin to military veterans who have made significant contributions to national interests. Additionally, some medal-winning athletes have faced financial difficulties despite receiving state bonuses, noted Budi Prasetyo, another deputy responsible for sports achievement.

To ensure that rewarded athletes can sustain a decent livelihood after retirement, the government may offer financial management training. 

"There have been proposals to distribute financial bonuses in smaller amounts over several years rather than as a lump sum. We are still evaluating which approach is more beneficial," added Budi.

"Indonesia is one of the most generous countries in terms of rewarding its athletes, even when compared to countries like Japan or South Korea," he said.

The proposed pension fund is part of a government regulation aimed at rewarding national athletes for exceptional achievements.

Budi said the regulation is expected to be issued in the near future after undergoing registration with the Justice Ministry. He didn't say if the new regulation applies from the upcoming Paris Olympics onward or retroactively covers previous medalists. 

Indonesia secured its first Olympic medal in 1988 when a trio of female archers claimed silver in Seoul.

The country's first gold medals were achieved in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when badminton debuted as a medal event. Badminton remains Indonesia’s sole source of Olympic gold medals thus far, with Susy Susanti becoming the first medalist in women’s singles at Barcelona. Her future husband, Alan Budikusuma, also clinched the men’s singles title at the same Olympics.

Men’s doubles pairs have been particularly successful, earning three gold medals: Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja in Atlanta 1996, Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya in Sydney 2000, and Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido in Beijing 2008.

Taufik Hidayat claimed the men’s singles title at Athens 2004, while Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad triumphed in mixed doubles at Rio 2016.

Indonesia's only Olympic miss in badminton came in London 2012.