Reflecting On Persibo Vs Deltras' Decision To Match, IPO Calls FIFA's Slogan Fairplay Manipulated By PT LIB

Persibo Bojonegoro vs Deltras ended controversially (Instagram/@persibo.bojonegoro).

JAKARTA - Indonesia Cares for Sports (IPO) highlighted the results of the League 2 match between Persibo Bojonegoro vs Deltras Sidoarjo. They said that the decision of PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) to cancel Persibo's goal in the 90+4 minute was considered to tarnish the world of Indonesian football.

Previously in the match at the Deltras Sidoarjo Stadium on Saturday, January 11, 2025, it was stopped due to force majeure with a score position between Persibo Bojonegoro vs Deltras FC 1-1 in injury time.

A goal that occurred against Deltras FC in the 94th minute was approved by the referee, but was protested by Deltras FC players so that there was a commotion. As a result, the match was over without clarity.

However, the match had to resume on Saturday, January 18, 2025, which only played the game with about 4 minutes remaining.

The incident was then handled by the PSSI Disciplinary Committee (Komdis) which on January 12, 2024, they decided that Persibo's goals were considered invalid. This made Persibo club protest and file an appeal.

The PSSI's Appeal Commission (Komding) later decided that point one (1) stated that the appeal from Persibo club Bojonegoro was unacceptable.

Point two (2) states that the PSSI Disciplinary Committee Decree Number: 109/L2/SK/KD-PSSI/I/2025, dated January 12, 2025, has no legal force to implement (non-executable) because it was issued before its time (premature).

The decision point three (3) ordered PT Liga Indonesia Baru to make a final decision and bind to the match between Deltras FC and Persibo Bojonegoro.

Then, point four (4) ordered the PSSI Secretariat to return an appeal deposit of Rp. 30,000,000 (perty million rupiah) to the Persibo club Bojonegoro.

PT LIB as the operator of the single competition decided to annul or cancel Persibo Bojonegoro's goal against Deltras FC and will hold a follow-up match in Yogyakarta on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

When the match was held at the Sasana Krida Stadium, AAU Complex, Yogyakarta, Saturday, January 18, 2025, it was decided that the referee who led was Agus Fauzan. In fact, the previous match was led by Idfi Akbar Patha Sanduan.

According to Indonesia, this decision Cares for Football (IPO) is very odd and strange. There is no history, the goals that have been set and approved by the referee on the field can be disallowed by PSSI through PT LIB.

Goals that should have been scored by players and have been decided by referees on the field are legal.

The IPO refers to the FIFA Law 5 Statute that the referee's decision on the facts of the match, including the creation of a goal or not and the result of the match is final. The referee's decision and all other match officials must be respected.

Then the decision was also compared to the 2024/2025 League 2 competition regulations in Article 63 Paragraph 4 which explained that the protest could not be submitted regarding the referee's decision in the match. The referee's decision is final and binding.

Therefore, the IPO felt odd when the match between Persibo and Deltras the results were canceled through the PT LIB decision with letter numbered 065/LI-COR/I/2025, dated January 15, 2025, which was given to the relevant clubs.

The IPO said that the PSSI Komdis decision, PSSI Komding decision, and PT LIB's decision, which were not part of the referee and VAR, had no legitimacy and had no power to annull the results that had been decided in the field by the referee.

Everything was deemed to have violated the order of football, the FIFA and PSSI Statutes, and even the rules of the competition regulations themselves.

It should be understood that FIFA has a philosophy and a clear basis for rules in which referee decisions on the field are final and binding.

Meanwhile, in Indonesian football, which should carry the FIFA slogan with "fair play" plus "respect", can be twisted and manipulated.

Thus, the referee's decision, which should be binding and final, turned out to be only in Indonesia, could be turned "not final" and "not binding".

From this incident, the IPO suggested that Persibo Bojonegoro's management could write to FIFA because it had been twisted by this reasonable and unreasonable decision.

For national football, PT LIB's decision greatly endangers the football ecosystem that has been standardized by FIFA and PSSI.