Match-fixing, or whatever the term used in explaining the activities of a person or a group of persons in ensuring a sports match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, is apparently not a new phenomenon in Indonesia.

There has been no research conducted to academically and accurately determine the chronological history of when this “unsporting” practice began here, but individual accounts indicate that match-fixing in soccer matches in the country occurred even years before Indonesia, as an independent state, existed.

Such match-fixing activities started ever since the annual national competition of perserikatan-perserikatan (unions) — soccer clubs belonging to or representing their respective provincial, regency, or city administrations — began, following the establishment of the Persatuan Sepak Raga Seluruh Indonesia, now called Persatuan Sepakbola Seluruh Indonesia (both abbreviated to PSSI, the Soccer Association of Indonesia) in 1931.

The late former sports journalist of the Antara news agency, Sugiarta Sriwibawa, noted that a lot of bookies and betters already roamed around the Sriwedari Stadium in Surakarta, Central Java, ahead of the soccer matches between home club Persis Solo and neighboring city’s PSIM Yogyakarta in the 1930s. They were awaiting the release of the starting 11 of each club only to find out whether key players would be played. The more key players were played, the higher the bet they would place.

Yon Moeis, a former sports — particularly soccer — journalist and now a soccer observer, revealed that the match-fixing in the era of the perserikatan competition was conducted in a simple manner.

“Bookies and/or betters directly approached and offered bribe money to the referee who would lead the match and the striker and the two backs [defenders] of one club — particularly the club that according to the bookies or the betters would have to suffer a loss in the match,” Yon told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

Instructions for the “appointed players” to follow the bookies’ or betters’ instructions were also given directly from the edge of the soccer field by the so-called runner (an intermediary between bookies and bribed players or officials) through his body gestures.

“The appointed players would have to always look at the runner’s body language, such as when he sits on a soccer ball, scrolls up his left or right shirt-sleeve, or when he raises one of his hands,” Yon said, giving examples.

The amount of bribes had varied, but they certainly increased whenever the competition entered the final rounds and peaked at the final match.

“If the result of each match was not in accordance with the scenario decided by the bookies or the betters, the bribed money would then be returned,” Yon said.

Match-fixing activities have continued to haunt Indonesian soccer even after the country was introduced to a semi-professional annual soccer competition system, known as Liga Sepak Bola Utama or Galatama (Indonesian Primary Soccer League) in 1979. The Galatama competition was held separately from the perserikatan competition.

While the modus operandi for influencing the results of a soccer match has basically remained the same — that bookies and/or betters approached and bribed the referee, the striker and the two backs — the era of the Galatama competition had introduced match-fixing innovations, with bookies and/or betters involved further in orchestrating which club would be the eventual champion of the ongoing competition, as well as in helping salvage clubs at the bottom rank of the competition from relegation.

“So, their [bookies’ and/or betters’] interests are not only to ensure betting profits from each match, but also to determine the victorious club of the competition, as well as which clubs are to be relegated to a lower caste,” said Yon Moeis.

In line with the decreasing popularity and prominence of the Galatama competition, particularly ever since the banning of foreign players’ participation in the Galatama and the corrosive match-fixing activities, the Galatama and Perserikatan competitions were merged into Liga Indonesia (Indonesian Soccer League) in 1994, through which Indonesian soccer clubs were divided into four separate leagues: Divisi Utama (Primary League), Divisi Satu (First League), Divisi Dua (Second League) and Divisi Tiga (Third League). However, threats of match-fixing have apparently continued to hit the country’s soccer competitions and management system.

So frustrated are the Indonesian people, particularly the soccer craze fans, with this match-fixing phenomenon that a number of concerned citizens, led by businessman Arifin Panigoro, established in 2011 a rival Liga Primer Indonesia (Indonesian Premier League, LPI), an independent soccer league separated from the PSSI-held Liga Indonesia. Nineteen clubs participated in its inaugural — and only — season, which ran from January to May 2011. The LPI competition, however, died in its infancy as it was stopped during its half-season break and it has never returned.

The death of the LPI competition unleashed the unbeatable match-fixing activities of the bookies and the betters, with improvised approaches introduced in the early 2000s. As their targets would remain to ensure pre-determined results of each match, as well as what club would eventually be victorious in a competition and which clubs would be relegated to the lower league ranks, a breakthrough in determining the results has since been introduced.

“Previously, bookies and/or betters only approached one club in order to ensure a pre-determined result of each match or the final match of the competition. Soccer competitions of the new millennium have seen bookies and/or betters bringing together two competing clubs on the same table — where the management, officials and the selected players of both clubs sit together, along with the referee and the line judges and oftentimes with PSSI officials, although not always — to discuss and determine the results of each match beforehand,” Yon Moeis revealed.

“And there will be no runners giving instructions from the edge of the soccer field any more as everything has been settled on the table, including the exact time when the appointed players have to act in accordance with the bookies’ or betters’ requests and how the scenario would be played,” he said.

— From various sources

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