Persija Jakarta Asks PSSI To Immediately Determine The Fate Of The Competition

ILLUSTRATION / Persija Player (DOK. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The management of Persija Jakarta has asked PSSI to immediately determine the fate of the Indonesian League 1 competition, which until now has not found a bright spot due to the absence of a license from the police.

"We need certainty regarding the continuation of the competition, whether it will run or not," said Persija Jakarta director Ferry Paulus as quoted by Antara, Sunday, January 3.

Ferry said the PSSI decision would be the main consideration for the Kemayoran Tigers to determine the best move for the team.

One thing that makes people worry is the player contract. A number of players on his contract will expire in the near future and the club does not know whether to continue to extend or release him in the absence of competition.

"(PSSI's decision) is to determine the next steps for the team, including the continuation of contracts for several players that will expire. For now, we cannot make a decision because it all depends on whether the competition runs or not," he said.

In the latest news, PSSI and PT Liga Indonesia Baru are still trying to convince the police to issue a recommendation letter. The federation and operators want the competition to start as early as February as originally planned.

Although it is not clear whether the competition will resume or not, Persija has recently been named the third most popular club in Asia based on the results of a poll held by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from 27 December 2020 to 1 January 2021.

Even in the previous poll, Persija was named the most popular in ASEAN, beating big Southeast Asian teams such as Johor Darul Ta'zim. The achievement was certainly appreciated by the management of the Kemayoran Tigers.

The management sees that behind this achievement there is a longing for football lovers in this country to watch their favorite club compete, even through the screen. In addition, he hopes to be a trigger for the police in granting competition licenses.

"All parties are longing for the competition to roll back, especially football fans. Furthermore, with the competition, all activities at the Club and Persija team will resume," he said.