About Words That Offended Shin Tae-yong, Haruna: Which Angle Is Offensive?

Haruna Sumitro, Chairman of PSSI and Shin Tae-yong (Photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - PSSI Exco member Haruna Sumitro gave a response regarding his words that went viral in cyberspace because they were considered offensive to the Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-Yong.

In a discussion on Pandit Football's Twitter, Tuesday, January 18, Haruna said that he did not know which points of his words were deemed offensive to Shin Tae-Yong.

Because, according to him, the moment of discussion that was held with PSSI and Shin Tae-Yong some time ago was carried out in an open and relaxed manner.

"Which angle is the problem, some say the meeting made Shin Tae-Yong offended," Haruna said on the occasion.

"Even though to this day I also don't know which statement he was offended by. I asked the translator (Jeje) but until now I haven't been able to explain which point (which is considered offensive)," continued Haruna.

He further said that the discussion he expressed went viral because people's perceptions and responses were different from what he intended.

Haruna also said that the moment of discussion should be handled maturely. Moreover, there is an opinion session which definitely contains pros and cons in it.

"It's not just the wrong catch, but maybe social media is also fighting for followers, so an angle is taken that triggers it and twists it and decides, that's something that the media stirs up," he said.

"In this context, I really want everyone to be in a mature position in discussing. Distortion in the social process is normal, there are pros and cons, but not in such conditions, then when you get an angle, without clarification, you are immediately beaten," he continued explaining.

Haruna then also said that if there was a statement that needed to be refuted in the discussion, he would accept it. However, in reality it was actually viral and became a public discussion.

"In fact, if there is an argument that I don't agree with, it's refuted, given another explanation, it adds to everyone's insight. If I'm not right, I'll definitely accept that it's wrong," explained Haruna.

Previously, it was known, in the evaluation meeting, that Haruna considered Shin Tae-not the same as the previous coaches because he only brought the Indonesian national team to be the runner-up of the 2020 AFF Cup. This is what he said made the coach offended.