RI soccer nears its goal of professionalism
By Ivy Susanti
JAKARTA (JP): According to some people, life begins at 40. For the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), however, it seems life does not get started until well into the 60s.
Just after celebrating its 69th anniversary on April 19, PSSI was forced to swallow a few bitter pills before deciding to undertake a number of reforms in an effort to recall the glory days of 1956. This was the year when the national soccer team participated in the Olympic Games in Melbourne, its first and only Olympic appearance, managing to secure a 0-0 draw with the then Soviet Union.
In May of this year, the national team little resembled that 1956 team, suffering a humiliating 0-7 drubbing at the hands of South Korea in the 2000 Olympics Group Eight prequalification round in Seoul. Before this jolt of reality, Indonesia stood tied with South Korea atop the group with two victories, although South Korea had the edge on Indonesia in goals scored.
The embarrassment of the national team's lopsided defeat led PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar to question the capability of the national team and reset new goals for the national squad.
"Considering the result, I realize our soccer team's place in the world. The last board of executives vowed to bring (Indonesian) soccer onto the world stage, but I told the current board we could not make such a large jump directly," he said in June.
"First, we must gain supremacy in Southeast Asia before dominating in Asia. Then we can move into the world arena." Agum, who was the governor of the National Resilience Institute at this time, said.
This, however, is much easier said than done. At the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam in August, the national soccer team failed to win the widely expected gold, losing to Vietnam 0-1 in the semifinals. Defending champion Thailand ended up bagging the gold, while Indonesia defeated Singapore 4-2 in the bronze-medal match.
Agum, who replaced Azwar Anas as PSSI chairman in October last year, apologized to soccer fans throughout the nation for this failure. This apology failed to stem calls from the public for structural changes in the organization and its training program.
By the end of August, Agum bowed to pressure from soccer fans and replaced German Bernhard Schumm with Nandar Iskandar as coach of the national team.
In September, Agum was elected chairman for another four-year term during PSSI's 32nd national congress. Agum, who was appointed minister of communications by President Abdurrahman Wahid in October, named Tri Goestoro PSSI secretary-general and appointed more people to the organization's board of executives.
In November, Indonesia booked a berth in the Asian Cup final n Lebanon in November 2000 with a dashing 9-2 defeat of Cambodia in their last Group 7 prequalification match here. This first coaching success for Nandar also helped flame Indonesia's hopes for Asian soccer supremacy.
Autonomy
PSSI's first step in reforming national soccer was to grant greater freedom to its 26 provincial chapters to raise funds and develop young players across the country. Under the new guidelines set during the organization's congress, the provincial chapters were also obligated to stage competitions to discover young talent.
This decision was taken because PSSI was experiencing difficulties in finding talented young players for the national team. PSSI also change the name of regional commissariats -- which had served as PSSI branches in the provinces -- to regional chapters.
These regional chapters are also expected to run soccer schools in their respective areas, and will be allowed to raise funds to finance their activities.
Sponsorship
The winds of change also blew through the Indonesian Soccer League (Ligina). To improve the professionalism of the league, PSSI set new regulations on sponsorships, disciplinary matters and the transfer of players.
Just before Ligina's sixth season kicked off early in November, PSSI allowed each club to find its own sponsors. The regulation was the result of complaints that subsidies from PSSI never or only a few of them that reached the clubs.
But the new regulation is likely to be truly effective only if the government decentralizes its power and widens the scope of local authority by giving provinces greater autonomy and greater control over their natural resources and fiscal policies.
At that stage, each province will derive greater benefit from the exploitation of their natural resources, thus raising the general economic well-being of local residents and businesses, including soccer clubs.
Many clubs currently face difficulty in finding sponsors, particularly those clubs outside of Java, like PSBL Bandar Lampung and Persipura Jayapura. Top clubs, meanwhile, enjoy the financial support of numerous sponsors, including Persebaya Surabaya which is sponsored by Philips and Adidas.
Tri Goestoro admitted PSSI owed the clubs quite a large amount of money in promised subsidies. It still has to pay each of the 18 clubs which participated in the fifth Ligina season Rp 40 million ($US5,633), plus another Rp 15 million for each club which finished the season in the top 10.
The ongoing Ligina season saw plenty of action off the field, which led to a heavy workload for the league's disciplinary committee. The committee sanctioned six clubs for failing to control fans during matches. Four players and four referees also were sanctioned during the season.
On the issue of the transfer of players, PSSI pledged to issue guidelines on players' working terms and their transfer between clubs across the provinces. These guidelines, however, are still awaiting completion.