New Battles for Indonesian Football.
The Indonesia Premier League (LPI) kicked off a week ago. In the opening match Solo FC were defeated 5-1 at home by Persema Malang, in front of 22,000 spectators.
While some readers may be surprised by the size of the crowd, (which is in fact not remarkable by Indonesian standards), the first match of a league season halfway across the world is not a matter for concern to many.
But the away team, Persema Malang have already played eight league matches this season, prior to the opening league game. How can that be?
The reason is that the Indonesian Premier League is not what you might expect, the top level of football in Indonesia, but an entirely new league formed without the authorisation from the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI).
The authorised league, started in September with 18 teams, and is called the Indonesian Super League. It now has only 15 teams, as Persema have withdrawn, along with PSM Makassar and Persibo Bojonegoro. The new league will start with 19 teams, but hopes to actually have a 20th member added soon.
Most of the teams have names that would be more familiar outside Indonesia than within it. Six of them are just a place name followed by the initials FC, while three more have the title “United”. In Tengerang, there is Tengerang Wolves, while elsewhere we see Real Mataram and Batavia Union. The Indonesian standard of either using initials are an abbreviation of a much longer name has only be kept by those clubs moving from the old league. The two initials PS, or starting a team name with “Pers ” or “Perse ” are standard abbreviations for Football Association, and were common to 13 of the 18 clubs starting the old ISL.
The new names are for new clubs, although one cannot help but think that some of these include an unofficial connection with the old clubs. In Jakarta, a new team is called Jakarta FC 1928. An odd name one would feel for a club founded in 2010 or 2011? Its badge has red and white stripes and a tiger. The badge of the main club in the city, Persija (still, of course in the ISL) also shows red and white stripes, while their major supporters club, Jakmania, shows a very similar tiger on their web page. If there is no connection, then I would imagine a court case for using similar symbols will be forthcoming.
FIFA has taken the only action available to it. It is fully supportive of the status quo, and has backed the PSSI against the new league. While strong on words, the PSSI are short on actions so far, and the only action clearly taken is to remove a few players who have switched leagues from their squad for a forthcoming Olympic qualifier. Considering how little chance Indonesia had of qualifying for the finals in Britain, weakening this squad is not quite a case of cutting one’s nose off to spite the face, more a light bruising.
Meanwhile the PSSI has other worries. The Corruption Eradication Commission has been investigating their activities, and has now called for a full audit of the PSSI’s financial affairs. Accused of mismanaging funds and tickets, the PSSI are protesting that such interference is unnecessary. Here too, they will find support in Zurich. FIFA have a long record of protecting national FA administrations from local investigation, even though FIFA provide an annual subsidy and this money is part of that which may be misused.
The treasurer of the PSSI, Achsanul Qasasi said the association was audited annually by a public accountant. He also argued that FIFA, the international governing body of football, routinely checked PSSI’s use of the annual subsidy. Not certain if the last bit was a joke or not, but it had me laughing.
It is not only the PSSI that is accused of unclear spending. Almost all the clubs in the ISL get a subsidy from local government, often in excess of £1 million. The local authorities are also generally responsible for the stadiums, and their maintenance. Most clubs, meanwhile are losing money as wages spiral, as well as the costs of travelling the length and breadth of the archipelago.
The new league, for the moment is free of local subsidy although one wonders for how long. If the new league becomes popular, than politicians will soon try to ride on club’s coat tails for the publicity and popularity. Still, the new league does have ways of keeping costs down. The ISL now has only seven clubs on Java, the most populous and wealthy part of the country this is down to historical reasons, as promotion and relegation is on merit, except for a when clubs financial problems cause them to fold. The IPL, which does not have to worry about merit, has 11 clubs on this island, and one more on neighbouring Bali. Still this does not ensure commercial success. Past viewing of the ISL and its predecessors suggest that 3 clubs in Jakarta, and one more close by in Bogor may be too many in a small area.
The extremities of the country are still represented with teams in Aceh (the northern tip of Sumatra), and Jayapura (close to the border of Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea). It also has teams at both ends of Sulawesi, Makassar and Manado. There are no Kalimantan (Borneo) teams in the new league, while the old league has three.
While keeping the league more compact will keep travelling costs down (from Jakarta, you will not get to Jayapura in less than 6½ hours, although you can do it for £200 return). On the other hand, I have always heard that some of the bigger crowds can be found far from the capital.
The league is the brainchild of oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro, and he says he intends it to improve football in the region. Whatever the established order may think about this, one thing they cannot claim is that Indonesian Football is not broke or that it does not need fixing.