Gus Dur urges PSSI to seize business opportunities

Gus Dur urges PSSI to seize business opportunities

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid urged All-Indonesian
Soccer Association (PSSI) officials to be prepared for coming
sport trends to the country which are part of the international
sports scene.

"The sports business, especially soccer, will definitely
influence us in the future. We have to be prepared to take
advantage of the trend instead of being used by other people.
That's the key," said Abdurrahman, while meeting PSSI officials
at the State Palace on Wednesday to commemorate the
organization's 70th anniversary.

"Today's moment shall become memorable history. Seventy years
is not a short time. It can be used to evaluate our success,"
said the President, who is also a big fan of Bayern Muenchen and
German star Franz Beckenbauer.

Abdurrahman reminded PSSI officials, who were led by chairman
Agum Gumelar, on Indonesia's past glory.

"In the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, we tied 0-0 with the
Soviet Union. That's a remarkable achievement."

He also said PSSI's decreasing performance was linked to the
development and training program.

"The training program is the foundation of soccer development
all over the world. A good development process and financial
management will boost our soccer performance but it can't be done
without the government's attention."

Separately, the National Sports Council (KONI) vice chairman,
Arie Sudewo, expressed appreciation over PSSI's big step to
conduct doping tests in its Bank Mandiri league soon.

"I'm glad PSSI can learn a valuable lesson to pay more
attention to its players who could be on illegal drugs which can
influence their performance."

National player Kurniawan Dwi Julianto was banned from
competing in the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games after testing
positive for using psychotropic substances. Eri Irianto, who
passed away early this month, was suspected of consuming illegal
drugs which could have caused his death. (prb/yan)