League 1 Referee Decisions Often Become Controversy, This Is PSSI's Solution For The Rest Of The 2021/2022 Season

Provision of referees and assistant referees conducted by PSSI for Liga 1 Indonesia. (Doc. PSSI official website)

JAKARTA – The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) has added the number of assistant referees for the remaining matches of the 2021/2022 Indonesian League 1 season. The move is expected to reduce controversy, especially regarding the performance of referees, in national football matches.

It is planned that the application of two additional assistant referees will be implemented starting on the 30th week or to be precise on March 9, 2022.

Before being implemented, PSSI conducted briefing for additional referees and assistant referees. This briefing was held at a hotel in Badung, Bali, on Sunday, March 6. The debriefing material is more focused on theory and practical application for additional assistant referees.

"The addition of an assistant referee is one of our steps to maintain this commitment. We hope that the quality of the matches in the 2021/2022 Indonesian League 1 will also be of higher quality and interesting with the addition of an assistant referee," said PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi on the federation's website.

President Director of PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) Akhmad Hadian Lukita said his party strongly supports the additional policy of assistant referees. He believes this method can be effective in improving the quality of matches in the highest caste of national football.

"There is an additional assistant referee whose position will be closer to the goal. They can inform the main referee the truth. With this policy, we hope that everything will get better. There will be no more controversial decisions and all parties will also respect every decision of the referee. ," he said.

Referees who officiate matches in national football are now in the spotlight. Their decisions are often controversial because they are considered detrimental to certain teams and benefit other teams.

Previously, the Chairman of Commission X of the DPR RI, Syaiful Huda, took part in addressing the series of controversies that arose due to the disappointing quality of the referees. For he also asked that these controversies must be followed up immediately to maintain the quality of the match.

One of the controversial decisions of the League 1 referee that has recently been highlighted occurred in the 27th week of the match when Persiraja Banda Aceh played Barito Putra.

At that time both the referee and assistant referee made a decision stating that Persiraja Jabar striker Sharza was caught offside. However, in the replay, it is clear that Sharza's position is still on the side when receiving feedback from his colleague Arya Putra in the Barito Putera penalty box.