PH Asiad goal: 15th place; more incentives await medalists

Olympic chief Ricky Vargas has set a clear goal to achieve a better finish in the Asian Games.

Vargas, also the president of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, said they’re targeting at least 15th place overall among 45 Asian countries after finishing 22nd in the 2014 Incheon edition with one gold, three silver and 11 bronze medals.

Speaking before the Philippine Olympic Committee general assembly for the first time on Monday, Vargas announced additional cash incentives to keep the athletes motivated.

“We have set specific goals, which we intend to attain with proper support from public and private agencies,” said Vargas. “Our goal is to improve our ranking from 22nd overall. I am also committing cash incentives.”

Aside from what the law is mandated to give podium finishers, Vargas announced that gold medalists would earn additional P2 million in cash bonuses while silver and bronze medalists would get P500,000 and P300,000, respectively. Each player from team sports would earn 25 percent of the incentives.

The Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001 awards P2 million, P1 million and 400,000 to the top three finishers in the Asian level.

Vargas identified eight sports—bowling, boxing, kurash (wrestling), jiujitsu, judo, bridge, taekwondo and dragon boat—that could deliver medals for the PH delegation during the Indonesian Games set in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang on Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.