Most of the players, he went on, had been bracing for a cancellation since the start of the pandemic in Indonesia in March last year. They are now eager to find out what’s next for them in terms of competitions, which remains unclear, he added.

“It was tough news, but we finally got some certainty out of this absurd situation, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ponaryo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

PSSI chief Mochamad Iriawan recently announced the cancellation of 2020-2021 competitions, citing the pandemic as the main reason. Adding to that reason was the National Police’s refusal to grant clubs the permission to play matches.

“The decision is a follow up of an earlier recommendation from club owners who wanted the leagues to be canceled,” he said as quoted on the PSSI’s website.

League operator PT Liga Indonesia Baru president director Akhmad Hadian Lukita said the majority of club owners had opted to discontinue the 2020-2021 season and throw all their focus on organizing the next tournaments.

Commenting on this, Ponaryo warned that the PSSI’s decision to use force majeure — the pandemic — as its main reason for the cancellation would bring some legal consequences, especially for the players.

Therefore, he went on, the PSSI should be able to make sure that players were legally and financially protected during the hiatus so that they could focus on their future career here.

Read also: Expert, fan advise caution with PSSI's plan to restart leagues in 2021

“Assuring players they will receive support from clubs and also avoiding any contract violations are among the issues that should be highlighted.”

He also urged clubs to inform their players about the canceled competitions so they could plan accordingly.

“During conditions such as these, our players will need to improvise. Most of them are already relying on their savings. They would need better planning both for their career and personal future.”

Commenting on this, Ignatius Indro of the Indonesian National Team Supporters Association (PSTI), urged all soccer stakeholders to learn from this moment and mull over strategic plans that would allow this year’s tournaments to be organized.

“We know that professional soccer has been played in many parts of the world with strict regulations. They have proven that they were able to better [deal with] the pandemic,” he said.

He then cited a lack of communication as being the cause of the PSSI’s inability to receive approval from the National Police. The situation is rather ironic, he went on to say, given the fact that Iriawan was a former three-star police general who supposedly knew how to deal with the police.

“Pak Iriawan should better communicate with the new National Police chief so that we can all watch soccer in the safest way possible.”

After spending almost a year fighting COVID-19, Indonesia and many other countries are still unable to see an end to the pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel as the country has started its vaccination program. But people’s disregard of health protocols continues to expose them and their families to the deadly disease.

According to the latest data, in Jakarta alone, 3,151 new cases were recorded on Thursday, bringing the capital’s total to 239,226 and making it the region with the highest positivity rate. In total, 951,651 people have contracted COVID-19 nationwide.