Strongly Criticized By Netizens, Eri Cahyadi Cancels National Team Convoy In Surabaya

Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi (ANTARA/HO-Diskominfo Surabaya)

Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi explained the plan for the Indonesian national team convoy with the Palestinian national team in Surabaya, East Java, on June 11, which was intended as a form of respect for important guests.

Similar performances were also seen at various moments, he said, such as when supporters of Surabaya escorted and welcomed the presence of the Persija Jakarta team, Persis Solo, and so on.

"So this is an escort convoy because of the respect given to the Indonesian national team," said Mayor Eri Cahyadi as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 7.

This he revealed in response to the polemics made by netizens on the realm of social media regarding the convoy's plans.

"The convoy in question is escorting and welcoming the Indonesian national team from the hotel to the Surabaya City Hall where the travel time is only seven minutes, and from City Hall back to the hotel," Eri said.

The man who is familiarly called Cak Eri emphasized that the welcoming had become a culture of Surabaya supporters. Eri said that the Surabaya supporters' group always carries out the tradition of escorting and welcoming important club guests.

They want to show football lovers in Surabaya are close to hospitality. Usually this type of convoy is attended by supporters' representatives, so it can be limited, such as a maximum of 100 supporters to escort.

"So this is not surrounding national team players throughout Surabaya. But because this was later misunderstood, the convoy was eliminated. The Indonesian and Palestinian national team players were immediately at the dinner at City Hall," he said.

Eri then explained that the date for the dinner was a form of friendship between the two countries, as well as a form of support for the struggle of the Palestinian people. This is realized through concrete actions in the form of 10 percent of the ticket sales proceeds will be donated to the Palestinian people.

"The City of Surabaya, which is integrated with Taman Surya, is an open place. So residents please come to Taman Surya, there are Indonesian and Palestinian national team players, they can encourage them, such as meet and greets while enjoying 5,000 servings of Surabaya MSME food," he said.