Oyong, Irawadi resign over controversial funds transfer

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Oyong Karmayudha and Irawadi D. Hanafi resigned from their respective positions as the secretary-general and deputy treasurer of the National Sports Council (KONI) on Monday following their involvement in an "unethical transfer of funds".

The two were the signatories who made possible the transfer of Rp 4 billion (US$500,000) from KONI's account at Bank Negara Indonesia to the Indonesian Soccer Association's (PSSI) account at Bank Mandiri.

While the fund has now been returned to KONI's pocket, Oyong's and Irawadi's action was deemed unethical, as KONI chairman Agum Gumelar had not been informed about the transfer.

Although both Oyong and Irawadi attended a plenary meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday, the session turned out to be the last appearance for both.

"Pak Oyong said he had slipped up, that he had gone beyond his authorization and stated he was resigning," Agum said at a media conference. He added that Irawadi, who is also the treasurer of PSSI, followed suit moments later.

"(The only person) who is authorized to execute such a transfer is the chairman," Agum said, clearly sending out a message what both had done wrong.

Although Oyong and Irawadi were deemed to have gone above his authority, Agum, who also chairs PSSI, was reluctant to declare outright whether his former aides had violated the organization's statute and therein deserved to lose their posts.

Seemingly making an effort to avoid being caught up further in questions as to whether Oyong and Irawadi had violated procedures, Agum said that much of the organization's statute still needed to be reviewed.

Irawadi's fate had been sealed as early as last Friday, when Agum announced his planned resignation.

Oyong was first to leave the room after he bid farewell to his colleagues. His face looked sad, and Irawadi, who followed minutes later, even broke down in tears.

Though Oyong said that he had taken the stand as a show of solidarity with Irawadi, in fact both had been far from amicable, pointing the fingers of blame at each other during their separate media briefings.

"If Irawadi were not here, it would not have happened," Oyong had said earlier, insisting he had not violated any procedure, except for not notifying Agum.

"I may have been wrong, but it was only in the area of ethics, because I should have informed Pak Agum about the transfer," he said.

Meanwhile, Irawadi said that the psychological trauma experienced from media reports on the case had prompted him to take the decision to leave. He denied that he had ever mentioned that Bank Mandiri had a 2.5 percent monthly interest rate, which he had formerly claimed to be the motivating idea behind the transfer.

"Never. Oyong said that. I just said I could give the interest to KONI from the transferred money. It's possible, because I do business," he said.