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British coach in talks to push Indonesian soccer further
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Judan Ali/www.judanali.com
British soccer coach Judan Ali, who is familiar with Indonesia’s soccer landscape, says he has long been an admirer of the country’s abundant potential in the game. He said he witnessed great talent in youngsters he encountered during his career here.
Ali, who used to play with big clubs like Barcelona and Arsenal, recalled his surprise at witnessing the passion for soccer almost everywhere in the country.
“I didn’t know that Indonesia had so much potential in terms of hunger, desire and passion. Therefore, it locked me in almost psychologically,” Ali told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
His interest in Indonesian soccer dates back to circa 2015, when the country was still banned by world soccer governing body FIFA because of government interference in the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
“I was pretty interested to see why such huge potential in soccer talent was prevented from taking part in any other league,” he said.
He said he believed the country’s soccer just needed to be put on the right track; that a sleeping giant was waiting to be woken up. He cited the Elite Players Performance (EPP) system implemented by the Premier League, a program tailored to nurturing homegrown talent, which he thought could also be adopted in Indonesia, which currently lacked such infrastructure.
In 2016, Ali signed on with Indonesian club Persela Lamongan as the technical director. Later that year, he was contracted as sporting director of Persiga Trenggalek, a club competing in the third tier of the Indonesian soccer league. He served as a sporting director only for a few months before deciding to go back to his home country.
Currently, Ali is in talks with former PSM Makassar CEO Rully Habibie to develop a program for Indonesian soccer with the aim of nurturing local players.
Both Rully and Ali refused to divulge details about the envisioned program.
“My experience [in Indonesian soccer] is valuable to my research to know that something is possible,” Ali said.
“Training a club is easy. Sustaining it is the true challenge,” he said.
