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Senior officials at odds over soccer crisis
The crisis in national soccer, overshadowed as it is by the threat of an international ban by the world soccer body FIFA, has caused divisions among top government officials, while soccer fans have begun to show signs of unease
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he crisis in national soccer, overshadowed as it is by the threat of an international ban by the world soccer body FIFA, has caused divisions among top government officials, while soccer fans have begun to show signs of unease.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who had earlier called for the revocation of a Youth and Sports Ministry decree on the suspension of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), spoke out again on Thursday.
Alluding to a court ruling ' albeit provisional, pending a final verdict ' that granted the PSSI's request to lift the suspension, Kalla reiterated his opinion to a government aide.
'Actually, that [the ministerial decree] has automatically been annulled by the court ruling. Therefore, whether revoked [by the ministry] or not, it does not make any difference because legally [the decree] is not applicable,' Kalla said as quoted by kompas.com.
The PSSI availed of the court ruling to apply to the police for crowd permits as required for holding matches. Kalla said it was the right move, saying that based on the court ruling, the PSSI could resume its activities.
'[The ministerial decree] is not legally binding,' he said.
Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi responded partially to the court ruling by suspending the transitional team he had formed but stalling on lifting the suspension, which was imposed following the refusal of the sports body to exclude two clubs whose ownership is in dispute.
He has lately been uncertain as to whether to bow to Kalla's call or to stick to the decree, the issuance of which he had discussed with President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
During his tour of Pangkal Pinang on Wednesday, Imam signaled he would resist the pressure, saying that he would be prepared to take responsibility for possible sanctions by FIFA. On Thursday, he appeared to relent, saying he would consider revoking the decree.
'We are still considering it,' he said in Bali.
While a FIFA ban seems imminent, Indonesia faces sanctions from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) following the forced cancellation of a match between Persipura Jayapura and Malaysia's Pahang FC.
They had been scheduled to play their AFC Cup round-of-16 clash in Jayapura on Tuesday before it was scrapped after four non-Malaysian members of the Pahang team were denied entry into Indonesia due to visa problems.
While Pahang blamed the PSSI for the problems, Persipura fans vented their frustration at the ministry.
Representatives of the club's fan association accompanied by some members of the Papua legislative council went to the ministry office on Thursday to query the match cancellation.
Upon told that the minister was not available, one of the protesters launched into an angry verbal tirade, detik.com reported, while others damaged office facilities.
'We have come here carrying the fans' demands that we must act. The match cancellation has caused frustration among them,' legislative member Jack Komboy said.
'We want an assurance that the match between Persipura and Pahang FC can be played. The government must be responsible for that,' he said.
Faisal Abdullah, a staff member at the ministry, said that they had written to the AFC to ask for a rescheduling of the match.
Meanwhile, PSSI chairman La Nyalla Mattalitti, who is currently in Zurich, Switzerland, to attend the FIFA congress on Friday, said that FIFA remained in a position to carry out its threat to ban Indonesian
soccer from international competition if the ministry failed to revoke its decree on the suspension of the PSSI.
'I apologize to national soccer fans and soccer communities that the PSSI's efforts to get the ministry to revoke the decree have been unsuccessful so far, despite calls from the Vice President, the House of Representatives, DPD [regional representatives councils], the KOI [Indonesian Olympic Committee], KONI [The National Sports Council] and public figures,' he said in a statement posted on the PSSI website.
'With the minister remaining insistent in his stance, FIFA sanctions are imminent as the FIFA deadline of May 29 is approaching,' he said.
