Soccer body wants gracious losers
Soccer body wants gracious losers
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has called on teams in
the semifinals of the Bank Mandiri premier league championship to
display sportsmanship when defeated.
Learning from the World Cup, PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar used
one incident that occurred after the World Cup as a bad example
for the four teams.
"On an international level, it seemed they were not prepared
to lose," Agum said, referring to Italy, who suffered an upset
loss to South Korea in the second round last week.
Many feel that the Italians reacted excessively to the defeat,
which was marked by Serie A club Perugia's prompt move to fire
its South Korean player Ahn Jung-hwan, who sealed Italian's ill-
fated World Cup run in the extra time of the match.
"We are not as big as the World Cup, but let's show that we
can be bigger by accepting a loss graciously," he told the four
teams' representatives at a news conference at PSSI headquarters.
"From the current four, two will inevitable lose. Likewise in
the final, one will lose. Everyone wants to be a champion, but we
must be aware that the result may be against all expectations.
"This is a good momentum for us to show to the public that we
have a moral responsibility toward the development of soccer
(here). So, get prepared, with our skills, physical shape as well
as mental attitude, especially when we end up losing," he said.
The league semifinals will be staged at the Bung Karno
Stadium, with last year's losing finalist PSM Ujungpandang taking
on Persita Tangerang on July 3 and Petrokimia Gresik facing Semen
Padang on July 4.
The final will be played on July 7 before President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, who is expected to present the championship
trophy.
Agum's words can be regarded as a reminder about how a group
of supporters can become unruly when their favorite team loses.
"Therefore, the teams are advised to pass the message to their
respective supporters. This will help avoid any disturbances
during the matches," said Agum, who is also minister of
transportation.
State TVRI and private ANteve will broadcast the matches live.
The matches are scheduled to kick off at 4:55 p.m. western
Indonesian time.