Officially Replacing Persija In The 2021 AFC Cup, Persipura Prepares The Mandala Jayapura Stadium As A Home

Persipura players in a training session (Instagram / @ persipurapapua1963)

JAKARTA - The management of Persipura has prepared the Jayapura Mandala Stadium, Papua as their home for the 2021 AFC Cup. Persipura has come forward to accompany Bali United as Indonesia's representative after replacing Persija, who canceled their appearance.

"We are proposing the Jayapura Mandala Stadium as Persipura's home base for the 2021 AFC Cup," said Persipura Chairman Benhur Tomi Mano in a written statement received by journalists in Jakarta, Sunday, December 20.

Previously, the appointment of who was entitled to represent Indonesia in the AFC Cup was controversial. PSSI initially appointed Bali United and Persija Jakarta to appear in the second competition in Asia.

The reason PSSI appointed Persija was because PSM Makassar, who won the 2018 Indonesian Cup, did not meet the professional club requirements by the AFC. The Federation then turned to Persija, who was the runner up.

However, the PSSI decision was wrong with the manual rules from the AFC regarding who could appear at the event. The Federation then corrected and appointed Persipura Jayapura as the legal representative to accompany Bali United.

"PSSI has apologized for the mistake of the previous proposal and I, as the general chairman of Persipura Jayapura, accept PSSI's apology. Hopefully things like that will not happen again," said the man who is familiarly called BTM.

Currently the management team nicknamed Black Pearl is preparing the required administrative documents. Although it is considered tight, Persipura hopes to finish it on time so that the previous experience does not become a part of the AFC Cup due to being late for PSSI registration, not repeated.

"Hopefully there will be no obstacles due to time constraints. I would like to thank the Indonesian football public for this struggle. We have received tremendous support from various parties, including the support and prayers of the Papuan people. All make us strong in fighting for our rights according to the rules. Thank you. Thank you very much everyone, always greetings of peace, "concluded BTM.