Soccer Emergency

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Indonesian U-16 national team players cry while singing the national anthem Indonesia Raya ahead of a 2020 Asian Cup qualifying match against the Chinese U-16 national team at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta on Sunday (22/9/2019). Indonesia qualified for the 2020 Asian Cup finals despite a 0-0 draw with China.

This Saturday (2/11/2019), the PSSI Extraordinary Congress is selecting its chairman. Those who possess a vote must make a selection based on their conscience.

Indonesia, which has a wealth of talented soccer players, has suffered poor performances since the early 1990s. The last time our national soccer team gained international recognition was 28 years ago, when it won the gold medal at the 1991 SEA Games.

Five years prior at the 1986 Asian Games, Team Garuda also made an impressive achievement by making it to the final four. In the quarterfinals, the Indonesian team led by coach Bertje Matulapelwa defeated the United Arab Emirates in a penalty shootout. The “Red and White” team was eventually defeated by South Korea in the semifinals.

Indonesia, which has a wealth of talented soccer players, has suffered poor performances since the early 1990s.

Since that era, our senior national team has suffered a dearth of achievements. Various problems have persisted and remained unresolved in our national soccer development.

It is thus unsurprising that the Indonesian team has been thoroughly unimpressive in the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers. Stefano Lilipaly and his teammates suffered four straight defeats to Malaysia (2-3), Thailand (0-3), the UAE (0-5) and Vietnam (1-3). Indonesia is at the bottom of Group G in the World Cup qualifiers for Asia, as it has yet to score a single point.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Supporters watch a 2022 World Cup qualifying soccer match between the Indonesian national team and Thai national team at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta on Tuesday (10/9/2019). Thailand beat Indonesia 3-0. In the first two qualifying matches, the Indonesian national team was defeated twice by Malaysia and Thailand.

This phenomenon points us to a new fact: We are facing a national soccer emergency. This urgent problem needs immediate resolution and comprises a lack of professionalism and sportsmanship in our senior league, a lack of planning in our youth soccer development, the eradication of the soccer mafia, including those behind match-fixing, and internal improvement at the Soccer Association of Indonesian (PSSI) and provincial associations.

Resolving this chaos requires a PSSI chair who is clean and possesses integrity, the courage to implement reforms and who will work towards improving this popular sport. This leadership figure must be able to dedicate himself to soccer, to the PSSI and to optimizing the careers of our talented players. This individual must not be a typical chair of our national sports association, thinking only of what he or she can gain from the organization.

Our soccer news has become filled with nothing more than hooliganism, supporters vandalizing our stadiums ...

Indonesian soccer has been mired in confusion and chaos for more than 20 years. In the end, our soccer news has become filled with nothing more than hooliganism, supporters vandalizing our stadiums and other public facilities, and our national team’s losses.

A new ray of hope has emerged with our junior national teams winning recognition, such as when our U-16 team won the 2018 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship. Our talented young soccer

players must not wither before they bloom because of the lack of a sustainable sports development system. It is time to end this chaos. Use the PSSI Extraordinary Congress as an occasion to fix our soccer.