PON Panen Kontroversy, DPR: Embarrassing Management Failure!

The evacuation of referee Eko Agus Sugiharto in an ambulance after being persecuted in the quarter-finals of the 2024 PON (doc. Antara).

JAKARTA - Commission X has again highlighted the chaotic XXI National Sports Week (PON) in Aceh-North Sumatra (North Sumatra). Apart from the lack of improvement from the facility problem, PON was also marked by an incident of beating football referees which caused controversy.

"We are disappointed with the implementation of this PON. The many problems at the Aceh-North PON are management failures because of the lack of maximum preparation and implementation," said Member of Commission X DPR RI Andreas Hugo Pariera, Wednesday, September 18.

As is known, controversy occurred in the PON match for the football branch where the referee who served in the Aceh match against Southeast Sulawesi was considered to be one-sided. Eko Agus as the referee is considered to be in favor of Aceh as the host.

The referee's controversial decision to give red cards to several Central Sulawesi players made the match heat up. At its peak, Central Sulawesi player, Muhammad Rizki Saputra, hit referee Eko after the penalty decision was awarded to Aceh.

"Violence action cannot be justified for whatever reason, there needs to be disciplinary action. But on the other hand, the alleged referee who is one-sided must also be investigated. Do not let Indonesia's grand sports match be tarnished due to fraud," he said.

In the aftermath of the controversy between the referees who were considered to be one-sided, PSSI decided to replace the PON referee with the referees who competed in League 1 and League 2. PSSI will also give strict sanctions related to the actions of players who commit violence in the Aceh Vs Central Sulawesi match.

"This incident is very embarrassing and illustrates the need for reform in the referee's election. We hope that the referee's replacement decision can make the match more fair," Andreas said.

In addition, Commission X of the DPR in charge of sports affairs also asked for strict and consistent enforcement of rules at all levels of competition. The point is that if there is an act of violence by players, officials or supporters, then they must be subject to strict sanctions.

"A fair and consistent disciplinary enforcement will not only take action against referee violations but also provide a clear signal that violence should not be tolerated," he said.

Andreas also asked the Government, in this case the Ministry of Sports (Kemenpora) and the institutions that oversee each sport (sports) to conduct education and training related to sports ethics, stress management, and conflict resolution. Good training programs will help competition participants in dealing with stressful and conflict situations in a constructive and sporting manner.

"The welfare and safety of all parties involved in sports must be a top priority. And the selection of referees who lead the match as well as supervision of judges and referees must also be evaluated," Andreas explained.

In addition to the referee's controversy, the facility issue is still in the spotlight in the Aceh-Sumut PON. Not only athletes, the organizing committee and the jury complained about the quality consumption problem. Even though the consumption cost for the implementation of this PON is quite large because the budget is called Rp. 50 thousand/eatbox.

Andreas said the government seemed not to care about logistics issues for athletes and PON participants.

"He said this consumption problem would be corrected, but the fact is that in the field there is still no improvement," he said.

Andreas added that the government should be able to prepare more carefully because PON is a major sporting event held every four years. Preparations should be done well and improvements should be made immediately if there are problems.

"Readiness such as road access to venues, consumption to venues is a basic thing. How can it be missed during preparation. Moreover, this PON is a regular event that is always held every four years," said Andreas.

Not only about the food menu, several complaints in the implementation of other Aceh-North PONs such as criticism about road access to damaged and inadequate venues, to dusty venues. There is even a venue where the match collapsed.

According to Andreas, this chaos is a reflection of the lack of good coordination and collaboration.

"Incidents like this actually show that coordination between government agencies and local administrators is still weak, as well as a lack of focus on proper infrastructure standards," said the legislator from the NTT I electoral district.

"If small problems such as mud puddles are taken lightly, what about other more important problems?" he added.