Celebrity Ownership Helps Enliven League 2

Liga 2 2021-2022 will be different from the previous seasons. Now some of the clubs in the league are owned by public figures and celebrities, such as Erick Thohir, Kaesang Pangarep, Raffi Ahmad and Atta Halilintar,

KOMPAS/DWI BAYU RADIUS

Indonesian celebrity, Raffi Ahmad, when met in November 2020. Raffi has now acquired Indonesian football club, Cilegon United. The club, which was then named RANS Cilegon FC, will compete in the Indonesian League 2 starting next week.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Indonesian Second League, Liga 2, is set to kick off the 2021-2022 season with new energy and promises more attractions now that celebrities, public figures and young entrepreneurs have acquired a number of participating clubs.

Their participation as new investors will not only have a positive impact on the teams they own, but also encourage the national soccer industry, which has been mired with uncertainties due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The trend of Liga 2 club acquisition by celebrities and young entrepreneurs began with Kaesang Pangarep\'s reported willingness to restore big name Persis Solo by acquiring the majority stake in the club at the end of March.

The youngest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has launched his initiative by collaborating with household soccer patron Erick Thohir.

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The State-Owned Enterprises minister is known to have built club management expertise with his past acquisitions including Italian Seria A’s Inter Milan and United States Major League Soccer’s DC United.

Kaesang is already known as a culinary entrepreneur, and his widely applauded breakthrough move into the soccer industry has been followed by two celebrity figures Raffi Ahmad and Atta Halilintar.

Raffi bought the majority stake in Cilegon United, which has since been renamed RANS Cilegon FC, while Atta acquired the ownership of Putra Safin Group (PSG) Pati FC.

Akhmad Hadian Lukita, director of PT Liga Indonesia Baru, the operator of Liga 1 and 2, said that club ownership by public figures was expected to add impetus to the spectacle and competitiveness of Liga 2, which, as the second-tier league of national soccer, had so far received lackluster interest from soccer enthusiasts.

DOKUMENTASI PSSI

Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali (right) with PSSI General Chair Mochamad Iriawan attended the opening of the Indonesian League 2 in Balikpapan, Saturday (14/3/2020). Football competitions in the country have finally been stopped following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The new season will start with a match between Persis and PSG Pati at the Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Central Java, on Sunday (26/9/2021). They are in Group C with PSCS Cilacap, PSIM Yogyakarta, Persijap Jepara and Hizbul Wathan FC.

“Persis is one of the hosts of the group stage matches. As for PSG, they have good lineup of players, so we can expect an interesting and entertaining inaugural match,” Lukita said.

In addition to the three clubs, another that has turned into a "sultan" club – the term becoming popular in reference to wealthy public figure ownership-- is Martapura Dewa United, which was bought by entrepreneur Kevin Hardiman.

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Liga 2 appears to have also drawn foreign interest with Norizam Tukiman, a Malaysian businessman and owner of the Malaysian Premier League club, Kelantan FA, injecting fresh funds into his newly acquired PSPS Riau.

Before being taken over by their new owners, the five clubs were notorious for having mediocre teams in Liga 2 embroiled in financial problems. Martapura and PSPS, for example, were in arrears over the salaries of their players and coaching staff carried over from previous seasons.

Norizam said he had been interested in PSPS because Riau was a Malay-cultured cross border region adjacent to Malaysia.

“My target is that PSPS can be looked up to again in Indonesia," he said. He paid out the suspended salaries of 20 PSPS players from the 2018 season, as reported by the club\'s social media page.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

PSS Sleman players prepare to block a free kick from Persib Bandung players in the 2021 Menpora Cup semi-final second leg which was held without spectators at the Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Central Java, Monday (19/4/2021).

Big ambitions have also been expressed by newly promoted PSG management following Atta’s acquisition, which has prompted the club’s improved target.

Club manager Pati Doni Setiabudi said the management had initially settled on simply staying in the Liga 2 competition for next season.

"Having a new owner and new good players, I feel obliged to take the team to Liga 1 next season. Even though we are a new team in Liga 2, we are confident we can qualify in the preliminary (group) stage because we have undergone thorough preparations," Doni said.

We want to raise Indonesian soccer to become better and higher

Their potential opponent, Persis, is harboring equally ambitious hopes. They are also chasing a promotion to Liga 1 by moving to recruit popular players, such as Beto Goncalves, Ferdinand Sinaga, Sandi Sute and Fabiano Beltrame.

"Our target is to win all matches in the preliminary round," media officer Bryan Barcelona said.

Meanwhile, Raffi said his interest in club ownership was motivated by his concern to help the development of early-age soccer, alongside his expectations to achieve high with RANS Cilegon FC.

"We want to raise Indonesian soccer to become better and higher," he said in a written statement.

Hasani Abdulgani, an executive committee member of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), welcomed the "sultans" to the national soccer industry. “Their presence serves to harness the national soccer industry. They are new figures who have not been contaminated with the old \'virus\' of soccer,” he said.

The article was translated by Musthofid.