Clubs Need Clear Time Frame on Liga 1 Cessation

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S. Dewa Broto (center) is accompanied by Indonesian Professional Sports Agency (BOPI) general chairman Richard Sambera (far left) and Deputy IV of the National Sports Achievement Improvement Division of the Youth and Sports Ministry, Mulyana (third right), as he speaks at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday (24/9/2018). BOPI has asked the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and PT Liga Indonesia Baru to suspend Liga 1 soccer matches for one week, investigate the recent death of a soccer fan and impose strict sanctions on the parties responsible.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Soccer clubs competing in the Go-Jek Liga 1 premier soccer tournament must respect the Indonesian Soccer Association’s (PSSI) decision to temporarily suspend all Liga 1 matches until further notice and to find the best solution to prevent future violence among soccer fans. However, the clubs will need a clear time frame for the suspension to readjust their training schedules and explain the situation to their sponsors.

The decision to suspend the tournament temporarily was made on Tuesday evening (25/9/2018) during a meeting of the PSSI’s Special Committee, following the death of Haringga Sirla on Sunday (23/9). Haringga was a supporter of Jakarta’s Persija soccer club who was killed when a group of supporters of the rival team, Bandung’s Persib, assaulted him before a match.

Apart from providing time for the PSSI to coordinate with all stakeholders, the temporary suspension is also a way to pay respect to Haringga’s family. Ten weeks of matches remain in the 34-week Liga 1 tournament.

Sumardji, the manager of Jakarta’s Bhayangkara FC, said he agreed that the league tournament must be halted, as Indonesia was in mourning. “However, without a clear time frame, we are worried that [the clubs will] suffer,” he said on Wednesday in Jakarta.

The first thing soccer clubs must do was to explain to their sponsors. Clubs had contracts with their sponsors and financial losses may be incurred when a tournament was interrupted.

Sumardji said that he also worried the tournament’s suspension would cause the players’ skills to decline. Tournaments were the best medium for players to hone their techniques and mental abilities.

The Liga 1 was also temporarily suspended from Aug. 18 and Sept. 2 for the 2018 Asian Games. During the three weeks, the players either trained independently or played trial matches.

Sumardji said that after the Asian Games, he felt that his team’s quality had declined and it won only one out of the three succeeding games. “Even now, [the team] is not yet back on its feet and the league has been suspended again,” he said.

Manager Candra Wahyudi of Surabaya’s Persebaya soccer club said that the suspensiong of the Liga 1 required the players’ training schedules to be readjusted. Rescheduling would not be easy without a clear time frame. “We should have been preparing to face [Malang’s] Arema FC, but we must rearrange our [training] program again,” he said. Persebaya had been scheduled to meet Arema FC at Malang’s Kanjuruhan Stadium on Sunday (30/9).

On the other hand, Arema manager Rudy Widodo said that postponing the Arema-Persebaya match would not change anything. “We are clear and positive that this is exactly the time for us to recover,” he said.

Rudy said the team had just returned from a match in Papua. “The suspension means we have a longer time to recuperate. Who knows? Perhaps our injured players can recover and join the match against Persebaya,” said Rudy.

Arema said it had printed 44,000 tickets for the match against Persebaya. The tickets had been distributed only to those customers who were able to show a proof of purchase. The club said that it would refund the cost of the tickets to all customers that requested it.

From New York, Kompas reporter Nina Susilo reported that Vice President Jusuf Kalla had proposed stricter and harsher sanctions for soccer clubs and their supporters. Without it, he said, fatalities from fan violence would continue to occur.

The sanctions could include imposing seasonal bans against clubs whose supporters were found to be involved in criminal violations. Such sanctions were expected to act as a deterrent to cut the cycle of fan violence.

Kalla believed that fatalities as a result of fanaticism among soccer fans resulted from the industrialization of soccer. Similar incidents also occurred in Europe.

Jayapura’s Persipura soccer club spokesman, Bento Madubun, said that without strict rules, innocent clubs nationwide would suffer from localized incidents. Bento said that he deeply regretted the suspension of the Liga 1 tournament. “The problem was caused by the supporters of certain clubs. It should not affect all Liga 1 participants,” he said.

In downtown Bandung, around 1,000 bobotoh (supporters of Bandung’s Persib soccer club) gathered on Wednesday evening for a group prayer at Pusat Dakwah Islam (Pusdai) Mosque. Led by Muslim cleric Hanan Attaki, the congregation prayed for Haringga and raised funds for his family. “Unity and kinship must be fostered among all soccer fans, not just between bobotoh and Jakmania [Persija supporters],” Hanan said. “Rivalries are of no use. Let us all build and nurture peace,” he said, referring to the long-standing rivalry between Persib and Persija.

Heru Joko, chairman of Persib fan club the Vikings, said that aside from praying for Haringga, those gathered also prayed that fan violence would not reoccur. Regarding the PSSI’s decision to suspend the Liga 1, Heru expressed hope that the PSSI would be fair. “The incident occurred outside the stadium. Clubs should not be sanctioned. Punishing the supporters is enough,” he said.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said that the police would respect the PSSI’s decision. “If [the PSSI] has ordered a suspension, we will follow it. We will also evaluate the security at Bandung Lautan Api Stadium,” he said.

(DEN/DIA/SEM/FLO)