National Police Still Do not Issue Crowd Permit to Liga 1

DOKUMENTASI PSSI

Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali (right) and Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Mochamad Iriawan attend the opening ceremony of Indonesia Liga 2 in Balikpapan on March 14.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – As many as 18 soccer clubs, along with the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB), have agreed to proceed with the out-of-season Shopee Liga 1 2020 competition on 1 Nov. However, it is feared that the agreement will fail to materialize yet again because the National Police still refuse to issue a crowd gathering permit for soccer matches.

The desire to resume the country’s top professional soccer tournament, the Liga 1 2020, which was suspended in March, was expressed at an extraordinary meeting in Yogyakarta on Tuesday (13/10/2020) involving the 18 Liga 1 clubs and the LIB. The meeting agreed that Liga 1 2020 would resume on 1 Nov. and run through the end of March 2021.

Since it opened at the end of February, the Liga 1 2020 has played 26 matches in three weeks. To finish the competition, the LIB must hold 280 matches over five months. This is shorter than the competition’s originally scheduled run of eight months.

The National Police have decided not to issue a crowd gathering permit.

"The clubs agreed to resume the competition on 1 November 2020 with a spirit to develop national soccer . The competition is proceeding in the interests of the national team so that they can compete in the 2021 U-20 World Cup. The resumption of the competition will also revive the economic sector and increase public compliance with health protocols," said a joint statement by 18 Liga 1 contesting clubs in an agreement sheet at the meeting.

Despite the agreement, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Argo Yuwono reaffirmed that the police would not change its decision to ban all activities that involved large crowds or gatherings, including soccer matches.

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"The National Police have decided not to issue a crowd gathering permit (for soccer matches)," Argo said when he was contacted on Tuesday evening.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Head of the Public Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police, Inspector General Argo Yuwono.

Argo continued that the decision was based on the high number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 and the upcoming simultaneous regional elections on 9 Dec.

The National Police also refused at the end of September to issue a crowd gathering permit for Liga 1 and Liga 2. The LIB and the PSSI were confident at the time that they could resume the national soccer competition starting on 1 Oct.

With regard to this issue, the LIB said it was committed to obtaining permission from the National Police for the two leagues to resume play. LIB operations director Sudjarno said that it would communicate with the National Police in the near future so it could announce the updated schedule for Liga 1 2020 as soon as possible.

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"No permit has been forthcoming (from the National Police) at this time, but we are working on it," Sudjarno told Kompas when he was contacted separately.

Inevitably, the situation is now uncertain. Coach Widodo C. Putro of Liga 1 club Persita Tangerang said that the decision to resume Liga 1 2020 was less than ideal due to the tight competition schedule.

Moreover, the mental state of the players was also weakening over fears of the outbreak’s current condition.

KOMPAS/MUHAMMAD IKHSAN MAHAR

Officials from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in Tangerang regency, Banten, take the temperature of people about to enter the Sport Center Stadium complex in Tangerang, Banten, on March 6, ahead of the 2020 Liga 1 match between Persita Tangerang and PSM Makassar. The temperature checks were meant to contain the spread of COVID-19. The 2020 Liga 1 was suspended later that month.

Losing momentum

After the plan to resume Liga 1 in early October was abandoned, the majority of Persita players had developed fatigue. They started losing their spirit due to the lack of certainty over the fate of the competition.

"We originally prepared a training program so the players would reach their peak condition in October. However, because the league has been postponed again, the players are now growing bored. We also had to put the players on leave for one week," said Widodo.

The coaching team must now motivate the players and restore their spirits to get ready for the competition,

The Persib Bandung squad was experiencing a similar situation. Persib coach Robert Rene Alberts said that his players’ appearance had deteriorated after the plan to resume Liga 1 on 1 October had failed to materialize.

"The coaching team must now motivate the players and restore their spirits to get ready for the competition," said Robert.