President Jokowi Intervened When PSSI Was Faster, Leave The League 1 Schedule To The Police

PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. PSSI)

JAKARTA - The schedule for the 2023/2024 Liga 1 competition has been submitted to the police. This quick step is for the certainty of the match permit.

The schedule was handed over directly by PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo. This is in accordance with the request of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Erick explained that the submission of this competition schedule was part of PSSI's commitment which previously emphasized PT LIB to prepare the schedule no later than three months before the competition began. For this season, the League 1 competition is scheduled to take place in July.

"This has been discussed some time ago, including a request from President Jokowi. We are trying to tidy up the system, because if the system is not neat, then don't blame the police if the permit is not issued," explained Erick.

"This is the result of my agreement with the National Police Chief and the President has asked all permits to be issued 3 months before the match," he concluded.

As reported by the release via Antara, Wednesday, May 10, Erick assessed that the League 1 competition will run much better than the previous seasons.

Erick's belief cannot be separated from the certainty of the competition and the obstacles to the match permit issued by the police will be resolved long ago.

The SOE minister hopes that in the future the competition will run more regularly, no one will be held without spectators, as well as providing security and comfort for spectators, sponsors, and broadcasting rights holders.

"Today I hand over the schedule of Liga 1 to the National Police Chief, Mr. Listyo Sigit in the hope that PSSI will continue to coordinate with the police regarding licensing, security arrangements, and provide comfort for spectators, sponsors, and television broadcasts," said Erick.

"We have coordinated the schedule with PT LIB as a league operator, and we hope that all commitments for the smooth running of the national football competition," he continued.

The 2023/24 Indonesian League competition is planned to be held on July 1, 2023 and is planned to end May 30, 2024.

Next season, there will be several changes compared to the previous season such as the name and format of the competition, as well as the addition of foreign player quotas, but until now there has been no certainty from the operator or federation about this discourse.