JAKARTA - PSSI Referee Committee Chairman Ahmad Riyadh said his party would file a legal lawsuit to obtain the identity of the referee suspected of being involved in match-fixing in the 2021-2022 Indonesian League 1.
Riyadh said the target of the lawsuit was the "Mata Najwa" program which invited the referee to their event but refused to tell PSSI who the person was.
"I will report or sue to the court that Mata Najwa has data on people who are suspected of damaging and claiming to have arranged (the match-ed). If they really want to help PSSI to enforce the rules, they should reveal (his identity-ed)," said Riyadh. from Antara, Friday, November 5th.
By bringing the matter to court, Riyadh wants to get a court order to annul Mata Najwa's right of refusal.
The right to refuse, based on the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press, is the right of journalists, because of their profession, to refuse to reveal the names and or other identities of news sources which must be kept secret.
Thus, each press institution has full authority to cover up the identity of its sources. However, in Paragraph 4 Article 4 of the Press Law it also states that "The right to refuse can be canceled for the sake of the interests and safety of the state or public order declared by the court".
This means that the right to refuse may not apply if there is a court order. This is what PSSI is fighting for.
"If it destroys public order, PSSI is public. We are trying to do that," said Riyadh.
The man who is also a member of the PSSI Executive Committee for the 2019-2023 period said that currently his party is analyzing all legal possibilities before making a decision, including bringing the matter to the Press Council.
PSSI wants to know the extent of the journalistic methods that have been used by the Mata Najwa team to invite a secret figure who claims to be the PSSI referee in League 1.
"Has the press elements fulfilled? Is everything balanced, cover both sides? Have you confirmed it to PSSI? If the invitee is not part of PSSI, it means he gave incorrect information, right. If he confesses, it's the same as getting Mata Najwa too," said Ahmad Riyadh.
Apart from that, Ahmad Riyadh also emphasized that PSSI also carried out an internal investigation to investigate the case.
"We have carried out internal checks," he said.
The show titled Mata Najwa, which was broadcast on Wednesday, November 3, had the theme "What can PSSI do, volume 6: Again and again". The event, which was hosted by journalist Najwa Shihab, invited several sources including a person who called himself a League 1 referee and claimed to be involved in fixing two matches in the 2021-2022 Indonesian League 1 season. The referee called "Mr. Y" explained that he had only led Liga 1 in the 2021-2022 season.
Mata Najwa is a program produced by Narasi or PT Narasi Media Pracaya. PT Narasi Media Pracaya is an official journalistic institution that has been registered and verified by the Press Council on November 29, 2019 with a certificate numbered 472/DP-Verifikasi/K/XI/2019.
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