Friday February 20, 2015 will always be remembered as a momentous day in the history of Indonesian Rugby as the Union was recognised as a Full Member of Komite Olimpiade Indonesia or KOI as it is better known. This recognition leads on from the Union becoming a Full Member of Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia (KONI) in August 2013 and World Rugby (formerly International Rugby Board or IRB) in November 2013.
Indonesian Rugby’s Development Manager, Karina Soerjanatamihardja attended the KOI General Assembly which was held in Bogor, West Java and is pictured above with Ibu Rita Subowo, KOI President. Karina made an acceptance speech on behalf of Indonesian Rugby which was well received by all those in attendance.
KOI is the National Olympic Committee of Indonesia and the recognition gained by Indonesian Rugby is a of great significance given that Rugby will makes its reappearance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rugby was last played as a 15-a-side game at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, having being previously played in the 1900, 1908 and 1920 Olympic Games. Rugby will be played as a 7-a-side game or “Rugby 7’s” at the 2016 Olympics and Asian Rugby will most likely be represented by either Hong Kong or Japan at these Games.
Indonesia will host the 2018 Asian Games in December that year in Jakarta and co-host city, Palembang. Rugby 7’s will be included in the sports programme and Indonesian Rugby will be responsible for hosting a tournament that will feature Men’s and Women’s 7’s Teams from most of 31 Rugby-playing nations of Asia. This will be the largest international Rugby tournament ever hosted in Indonesia and will be played at Bung Karno Stadium in central Jakarta.
Indonesian Rugby will also host the “2015 Asian Rugby Championship Division 3 East Tournament” in Jakarta on June 7-13. This tournament will be played at the University of Pelita Harapan (UPH) Stadium at Karawaci and will feature Indonesia playing 15-a-side Tests against Guam on June 7 and China on June 13 (Guam will play China on June 10). This tournament has the support of KOI and it will serve as a great way of further promoting the development of Rugby in Indonesia.