Despite complaints from some of its members, the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has completed its pivotal agenda, organizing an extraordinary meeting that produced an amended PSSI statute and appointed new members to its organizing and appeal committees.

The organizing committee will be led by Syarif Bustaman, former executive committee member under Nurdin Halid’s watch. Its members also include Harbiansyah Hanafiah, Irawadi Hanafie, Budiman Dalimunthe, Maurice Tuguis, Soedarmaji and Rocky Bebena.

The appeal committee will be led by Erwin Tobing. It has four members, namely Djoko Tetuko, M. Nigara, Alfis Primata and Ponaryo Astaman.

Acting PSSI chief Iwan Budianto said the recently concluded congress had asked for the next congress, which is slated to appoint the new PSSI chief, to be held in advance on Nov. 2, instead of January 2020 as previously scheduled.

He said the association held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue before announcing the decision to reschedule the January meeting.

“We want this process of change to run smoothly. Conflict, therefore, has become the last thing this organization needs. We decided to agree with those who prefer that the next meeting be held in November,” he said as reported by Kompas on Sunday.

However, Persib FC manager Umuh Mochtar could not hide his concerns, saying that the changes had been decided on before the extraordinary meeting even took place.

“I expect some debates and discussions on this meeting. But what has happened is really beyond my imagination. We only saw this [extraordinary] meeting function as a stamp for decisions that had been made way before the meeting took place,” he said.

Umuh, one of the senior soccer club managers in the country, said the changes discouraged him and made him consider resigning from soccer — though he is sure to stick around until at least Nov. 2.

“I want to know who is going to lead the PSSI first,” he said.

Commenting on this, Ignatius Indro of the Indonesia national team supporters association, said previously that the next meeting would likely be tasked with appointing a new PSSI chief, at least following the announcement of a new Cabinet.

He said politics and the process of electing a new PSSI chief went hand in hand, though he acknowledged this was hard to prove.

“The way I see it, the post of PSSI chief will be pursued by those who missed out on securing a ministerial seat in the Cabinet. This explains why there is only a small group of people who have mentioned that they have ambitions to secure the seat,” he told The Jakarta Post earlier.

Only two people have publicly expressed interest in becoming the next PSSI chief, namely businessman Erick Thohir and former Jakarta Police chief Comr. Gen. Muhammad Iriawan aka Iwan Bule.

Erick, who last said spoke about the position before the general election, had promised that he would only discuss the issue seriously after the presidential and legislative elections. Many view Erick as a worthy candidate, given his role in making the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang a success.

As for Iriawan, he had received widespread support from PSSI’s regional chiefs and soccer club owners. Iriawan vowed that, under his watch, the PSSI would rise to new heights through the construction of a PSSI headquarters equipped with state-of-the-art sport science facilities and soccer fields. Iriawan did not provide details on how he would raise funds for his plan.

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