In The Aftermath Of Persija's Cancellation Of The AFC Cup, Persipura Reminds PSSI Ketum Iwan Bule To Beware Of People Around Him

JAKARTA - General Chairman of Persipura Jayapura Benhur Tomi Mano warned PSSI Chairman Mochamad Iriawan or who is familiarly called Iwan Bule to be careful of those around him. Tomi said, they could be thorns in the flesh.

"As a friend, I want to remind the chairman of PSSI to be more careful with close people, not all of them work sincerely to help, including those at Exco. Do not let some people make mistakes or mistakes but harm us all," said Benhur in a statement. officially received by journalists from Jakarta, Sunday, December 20.

"Later we are all considered to not understand the rules and in the end the one who will be blamed is the general chairman of the PSSI. So I ask Mr. Iwan Bule to be more introspective with those closest to him," he added.

Benhur's statement followed PSSI's decision to appoint Persija Jakarta to accompany Bali United in the 2021 AFC Cup, even though according to AFC rules a club can compete in the AFC competition if it meets one of the requirements, namely league champion, tournament champion (cup), second league ranking, ranking third, and ranked fourth.

There are no rules that state that the second rank of a tournament can replace the position of the tournament champion if he cannot appear in the event. Instead, AFC explained that his successor was the top ranking in the competition and had secured the AFC professional club license.

From this case, Bali United (Indonesian League 1 winner in 2019 season) has indeed secured one ticket, while one other representative of PSM Makassar (winner of the 2019 Indonesian Cup) is blocked by a license so that it automatically fails.

Based on the 2019 League 1 rankings, under Bali respectively there are Persebaya, Persipura, Bhayangkara, and Persib Bandung. Persebaya also did not pass AFC verification. That way, Persipura Jayapura has the right to accompany Bali.

The man who is familiarly called BTM also expressed his gratitude to all football lovers in the country who also corrected the mistakes caused by the previous PSSI policies.

According to him, this problem is not about Persipura who "insistently" wants to appear in the AFC Cup, but it is a lesson so that in the future there will be no more rules being violated to the detriment of many parties.

"I would like to express my gratitude for the public support of Indonesian football for this struggle, the extraordinary support we get from various parties, including the support and prayers of the Papuan people. All of these (support) make us firm to fight for our rights according to the rules," concluded BTM. .