FIFA Not Talking About Sanctions When Communication With PSSI, Instead Providing Assistance Offers

JAKARTA - The World Football Federation (FIFA) has yet to determine the steps related to the tragedy of the Kajuruhan in Malang. The world football parent just expressed his condolences for the sad incident.

There have been no sanctions from FIFA as feared by the Indonesian football public.

PSSI Deputy General Chair Iwan Budianto said there had been no discussion about sanctions when they communicated with FIFA. Instead, FIFA conveyed their readiness to assist Indonesian football.

Iwan Budianto also mentioned that FIFA President Gianni Infantino even asked President Joko Widodo's phone number to express his condolences directly.

"The day after the incident, we at the PSSI Secretary General communicated with FIFA and even how FIFA President Gianni was able to communicate with President Jokowi over the phone was the result of FIFA's communication with our Secretary General," said Iwan Budianto, as quoted by Antara.

"Gianni also conveyed several soccer tragedies in the world, such as Heysel which caused the development of football in the country to be very advanced, so he (Gianni) fully supports Indonesia to restore this."

"So he didn't talk about sanctions, he even stated that he would support the team and finance if needed to improve infrastructure in Indonesia," he continued.

Worries about FIFA sanctions are actually quite reasonable. The reason is that the humanitarian tragedy in Kanjuruhan Malang was deemed to have violated the 2019 FIFA Disciplinary Code.

In fact, on several occasions, PSSI stated that it was trying to prevent FIFA from imposing severe sanctions on Indonesian football. For this reason, the organization led by Mochamad Iriawan is aggressively communicating with FIFA.