Clarification Of Anang Hermansyah And Ashanty Regarding Their Performance In The Indonesian National Team Match

JAKARTA - The presence of Anang Hermansyah & Friends who sang on the sidelines and at the end of the match between the Indonesian national team vs the Philippines at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium drew a lot of criticism.

Responding to negative comments circulating, especially on social media, Anang and Ashanty and their management made a statement uploaded via his Instagram account. He tried to clarify the story behind his appearance.

The 55-year-old singer and songwriter apologized for the misunderstanding that occurred among supporters of Indonesian football. He mentioned his presence that night on the basis of an invitation from the match organizing committee.

"We are not here to offer ourselves, but are asked to be the performers on the 11th (June). It is an honor to be offered to fill this event, even though it is deep in our hearts that we are worried because we feel that our songs do not match singing at the event," reads a statement uploaded by Anang Hermansyah, Wednesday, June 12.

"But because we are very proud and support the Indonesian national team, we accept and follow all the rules and conditions from the organizing committee," he continued.

The husband and partner of the Ashanty duet said the choice of songs sung was based on the request of the organizing committee from PSSI. He also stated that he did not get paid for the appearance.

Anang also explained that the appearance and choice of songs were adjusted to the presence of Sal Priadi, who was the performer in the Indonesia vs Iraq national team match on June 6.

It's just that at that time the euphoria might be different because Indonesia - Iraq was in different conditions, and at that time the artist performed after the player finished greeting the audience. We also think here we will do the same thing. But back again we don't want to intervene and just follow directions. The committee already has an SOP and runs the event as they might have agreed.

The song that has been agreed upon by the organizing committee as follows, -During the break (half time): Indonesia Pusaka" * The song Mandatory* is sung not during live tv, so many may not see it. - After the match: We are released to choose 1 national anthem, and we chose Kebyar Kebyar and have been approved without any debate. If we were given direction/input for sure we would follow. And lastly, the honest ones were the most confused, until many times we asked sure we played our songs? Because of our songs are all slow and love. Finally, we chose the song Mas Anang yang beat, namely Rindu, because the last song was asked for a song from the singer and free to choose, and not the national anthem. Until finally all this has been approved and used as a rundown.

In the statement, it was also explained that Anang, Ashanty and management did not have the slightest intention to 'adahi' the night of victory by singing inappropriate songs, let alone leaving the arena.

It was also explained that Anang and Ashanty's last appearance was not dismissed by the organizing committee, but an initiative from Anang who felt that the songs sung did not match the momentum that occurred at the stadium that night.

"So, it was not dismissed but we asked to be stopped because the atmosphere we saw was not up to the momentum. We really hope that when the players are on the field, we will be informed or briefed. Back again, it's also our fault that we should study what culture and culture should be done when this happens," said Anang and the team.