PSSI Decided On Liga 1 Title 20 August

Illustration of League 1 competition (PSSI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian football competition for the 2021-2022 season will be held on 20 August. The kick-off decision was taken after PSSI held consultations with Menpora Zainudin Amali and Police Headquarters.

Series 1 will start in the green zone. Likewise, the next series will be held in the green zone.

For this reason, in the near future PT LIB will hold a virtual meeting with all representatives of League 1 clubs.

Previously, the 2021-2022 Liga 1 season was planned to kick off on 9 July. However, due to the Emergency PPKM (Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions) and level 4 status in Java-Bali, the competition had to be postponed.

Now, after there has been a decrease in the number of COVID-19, especially in Java and Bali, PSSI and PT LIB see it's time for the 2021-2022 season competition to be held.

"PSSI has considered many things regarding when the 2021-2022 Liga 1 should roll. We are still consistent on August 20 League 1 will roll. For this reason, in the near future we will hold a virtual meeting with all representatives of League 1 clubs. Of course, the competition will temporarily be without spectators. We will see future developments, whether it can be with an audience with a certain capacity or not," said Yunus Nusi in a press release from PSSI's official website, Sealsa, August 3.

Regarding the kick-off of Liga 2, PSSI plans to hold it after League 1 starts. When exactly, PT LIB will first hold a meeting with club representatives.

“PSSI must run the competition because it can affect the assessment of FIFA, AFC and AFF against us. Moreover, we will also host the U-20 World Cup, the 2022 Asian Cup Qualification play-offs and the U-23 AFC Cup Qualifiers," Yunus added.

President Director of PT LIB, Akhmad Hadian Lukita, added that currently the majority of the components of Liga 1 2021-2022 clubs, namely players, officials and match equipment, have received vaccinations until the second stage.

“For League 2 clubs, most of them have already vaccinated. Of course this is a good thing towards the kick-off of League 1 and 2, because we are helping to achieve the herd immunity program in our own community. What is certain is that all those participating in the competition must be vaccinated,” said Hadian.

"With the Indonesian League competition, we hope to increase the immunity of people in Indonesia. Moreover, we will run the competition with strict health protocols and without spectators in the stadium," he added.

Hadian also believes that the Menpora Cup tournament will be a valuable lesson to welcome the League 1 and 2 competitions. At that time, with strict health protocols, the Menpora Cup tournament did not produce new clusters of COVID-19.