Protesters bearing the flags of their organizations march on Sunday (01/20/2019) to the venue of the 2019 Congress of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) in Nusa Dua, Bali. Hundreds of soccer enthusiasts across the country are demanding the eradication of Indonesia’s “soccer mafia”.
DENPASAR, KOMPAS — The hope of soccer lovers in the country for reform in the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has failed to materialize even though Edy Rahmayadi tendered his resignation as the general chairman of the PSSI at the association’s annual congress in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Sunday (20/01/2019). The majority of PSSI members did not want an extraordinary congress to form a new board.
The extraordinary congress discourse had actually been echoed by a number of the PSSI’s provincial clubs and associations ahead of the congress in Bali. They expressed concern that many PSSI officials had been involved in match-fixing cases. However, only one owner -- out of a total of 85 -- dared to voice the demand for the extraordinary congress, namely the chairperson of the Jakarta provincial association, Uden Kusuma.
"Total changes can only be made through the extraordinary congress or change of management. The resignation of Pak Edy is not enough. This is actually a reason (for the PSSI) to clean up itself. We don’t want our soccer to continue to be like this, do we? The achievement of the senior national team is not encouraging and the problem of match-fixing has become increasingly widespread," Uden said after the congress.
However, the proposal regarding the extraordinary congress was responded to coldly at the congress. The majority of voters were reluctant to support the congress for immediate PSSI management change, possibly because it required large funds and the time was not right due to the presidential election in April.
"It will not be good if its is forced quickly. Yes, it is better to wait for the presidential election to be finished so that the PSSI is not disrupted again. But, I agree to the need for total improvement in the PSSI," said Umuh Muchtar, Persib Bandung manager, who was previously vocal in proposing the extraordinary congress.
Umuh chose to give an opportunity to the PSSI’s management, which is now led by Joko Driyono as its acting chairperson, to prove his performance until the upcoming annual congress. "Let\'s give our trust to Pak Joko. Will he have the guts to thoroughly settle the existing problem of match-fixing at the PSSI? After all, the present term of office of the PSSI is only short (until 2020). If it is still not repaired, I will shout again," Umuh said.
The demand for the management change and total reform of the PSSI was heard louder outside the location of the congress, Sofitel Nusa Dua Hotel. A combination of soccer club supporters rallied in front of the hotel. They demanded that an extraordinary congress be held and a supervision system in PSSI be fixed. They considered the problems in national soccer to be acute, as seen from the many names, namely 11 people, who had been named suspects by the National Police’s Anti-mafia task force.
They wanted to break into the location of the congress, but were prevented by dozens of police officers, who secured the congress. "(Executive Committee of) PSSI works collectively. So the resignation of Edy Rahmayadi is not enough if we want to reform the PSSI. There are still many old people in the executive PSSI management, like Joko Driyono," said Andi Kristiantono, a protester who is also a figure of "Bonek", a group of Persebaya Surabaya supporters.
In his speech to tender his resignation as the general chairman of the PSSI at the opening of the congress, Edy advised the election of the PSSI new chairman be conducted peacefully without any conflicts. He said that he had resigned due to his failure to make PSSI better and see it free from match-fixing cases. “Anyone wanting to become the [general] chairman, please register. Do not fight. For the sake of the PSSI to continue running and moving forward, starting today I declare my resignation as the general chairman,” Edy said at the congress.
Meanwhile, Joko Driyono said he would try his best to temporarily hold the chairmanship of the PSSI. One of the PSSI\'s efforts stop match-fixing is by establishing an ad-hoc integrity committee chaired by Ahmad Riyadh, the chairperson of the Each Java province association, who is also a lawyer. One of the duties of the committee is to prevent, act on and collaborate with the National Police in overcoming match-fixing.
Other PSSI efforts are to make the referee committee an independent and more professional institution. "The referees are one of the keys. We hope that in the future, the referee committees can be like PGMOL [professional referee body in the UK]," Joko said. (JON)
