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Soccer disaster
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Indonesian soccer has never been free from match-fixing scams. (Shutterstock/File)
A
s Indonesia is licking its wounds from the most recent natural calamity that claimed over 400 lives and left thousands displaced, national soccer is reeling from yet more shocking revelations of match fixing practices that may inflict long-lasting and nagging injuries on the sport here.
Indonesian soccer marked the turn of the year with a series of arrests and full-force investigations into people and clubs allegedly linked to irregularities plaguing a number of matches in second and third-tier leagues, including the decisive game that earned PSS Sleman a promotion to the top flight League One competition in 2019.
The National Police, as part of the newly formed task force against mafia practices in soccer, have detained a member of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) executive committee, Johar Lin Eng, PSSI disciplinary committee member Dwi Irianto, former referee committee member Priyanto and his daughter Anik Yuni Artikasari. Several PSSI executives and other witnesses have also faced the music in connection with the case and the police are opening the possibility of questioning PSSI chairman Edy Rahmayadi.
Surely the police’s intervention, better late than never, deserves appreciation, as for many years allegations of match fixing in PSSI-sanctioned competitions have never fully been addressed. Punishments the PSSI has handed down to people for their roles in rigging soccer match results have never led to criminal investigations, making the disciplinary measures fall short of effective deterrence.
The police’s role in the fight against soccer match fixing is unprecedented, and hopes abound that this time around the criminal investigation into the practice will ensnare big players who have remained untouched so far. It has been a public secret that gamblers, at home and overseas, can sway the results of soccer and other sports matches anywhere in the world for their own profit, thanks to the power of money.
The task force, therefore, should not stop at people within the PSSI and clubs but also look at those with financial might who perhaps could decide who should win the premier league. If necessary, the police and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) should offer cover to any whistleblower who intends to help investigators fight the match-fixing web but fears for their safety. The manager of Malang-based third-tier league club Persekam Metro, Bambang Suryo, for example, claimed to have received death threats after he named people allegedly involved in fixing matches. Bambang himself has been banned for life by the PSSI for his part in the illicit practice.
It remains to be seen how far the task force can go, but we can learn from other countries in enforcing the law and regulations against match fixing. Italy, four-time World Cup champion, relegated Juventus from Serie A and stripped the country’s most successful club of two Scudetto championships in 2006 as a result of its role in the Calciopoli, dubbed the biggest match-fixing scandal ever.
The new year is a perfect opportunity for Indonesia to combat match fixing. The practice is putting our soccer, despite the abundant talent, on the brink of disaster.
