Liga 1 Opening Match Stadium Uncertain, LIB: Concentrated In Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor And Tangerang

PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) Director of Operations Sudjarno (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) Operations Director Sudjarno said the stadium and the opening match for the 2021-2022 Liga 1 season had yet to be confirmed.

After attending the LIB meeting with PSSI on Wednesday, August 18 evening, Sudjarno told Antara that the stadium and club meeting in the inaugural match was still a plan.

"For the stadium, it is still being planned and will be delivered later. As for the first match, we are still discussing it and will finalize it first," said the retired police officer with the final rank of Inspector General.

According to Sudjarno, the matter of the stadium and the opening match had actually been discussed at the LIB and PSSI meetings on Wednesday, which was part of the preparations for the manager meeting of League 1 clubs on August 20, 2021.

The manager's meeting became a forum for PSSI and LIB to explain all the detailed plans for the 2021-2022 League 1 to the 18 contestant teams.

After that meeting, stadium matters, matches and matters relating to the 2021-2022 Liga 1 opener will be determined and published.

However, Sudjarno can confirm that LIB has prepared several stadiums for the inaugural match of Liga 1. This is a form of flexibility in the location of the match according to the COVID-19 conditions in the area.

"We make a very flexible schedule and place. For stadiums, we concentrate on DKI Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang," said the Lampung Police Chief for the 2016-2017 period.

As for the first match, Sudjarno dismissed reports that the two clubs that met were Persija and PS Sleman.

PSS versus Persija is indeed set to be the inaugural match of the Indonesian Liga 1 2021-2022 if the competition proceeds according to the original plan, before finally being postponed until August 27, 2021 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases on the island of Java, namely on July 9, 2021.

"We haven't released the full schedule yet. For the Persija versus PS Sleman match, there will be, but we don't know when," said Sudjarno.

The Indonesian League 1 season 2021-2022 will be held from 27 August 2021 to March 2022.

Liga 1 2021-2022 will be held in six series with matches taking place in three clusters in the Java Island region.

The first cluster covers DKI Jakarta, West Java and Banten. The second cluster is Central Java and DI Yogyakarta, then the third cluster is in East Java.