Jakarta. Indonesia is ready to host the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships later this year, according to a representative from the sport’s global governing body.

Indonesia will hold the competition on Oct. 19-25. It will be the first time for Indonesia or any Southeast Asian country to be its host. The event, which will bring together hundreds of artistic gymnasts, is set to take place at Indonesia Arena -- an indoor stadium at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.

With less than six months until the scheduled event, several senior representatives of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) are currently in Jakarta to check whether the stadium is championship-ready. On Friday morning, the FIG team spent an hour or so checking every nook and cranny of the arena. They even checked the lighting, air conditioning, and many more. Donatella Sachhi, who leads the federation's women's artistic gymnastics technical committee, revealed to reporters later that day that the team was pretty much satisfied.

“I think Indonesia is more than on track [on hosting the championships]. You [Indonesia] are already thinking through everything, and you have answered all of our [FIG’s] questions. It means you are ready,” Sacchi told the press not long after the survey.

She said: “You just need the spectators, tickets, and to promote [the event] both in the country and around the world.”

As many as 600 gymnasts from 70 countries are expected to take part in the competition. Indonesia Arena holds a seating capacity of over 16,000 people. The FIG is scheduled to visit the nearby Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC), which will later become a training hall for the gymnasts.

On Funding
Ita Yuliati, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Gymnastics Federation, said that approximately 60 percent of the funding needed to host October’s championship would come from state money. The federation had already made a funding request to the government with the application currently being under review. Ita admitted that her federation had also cut a portion of what they originally asked for following President Prabowo Subianto’s austerity measures.

“There are two sources of funding: the state money and sponsors. … Of course, there are some reductions from what we initially asked for due to budget efficiency measures. However, we are not cutting the spending for operations and anything related to games,” Ita said, implying that the austerity policy would not affect the upcoming tournament.