Persiraja And Persipura Caste Down, Indonesian League 1 Competition 2022/2023 Not Enlivened By Sumatran And Papuan Teams

Persipura Jayapura were relegated from Liga 1 Indonesia. (Doc. Indonesian League official website)

JAKARTA - The 2021/2022 Indonesian League 1 Competition has ended. Three teams will be relegated to League 2 next season.

The three clubs are Persipura Jayapura, Persiraja Banda Aceh and Persela Lamongan. With Persipura and Persiraja down caste, the 2022/2023 Liga 1 competition will certainly not be crowded with teams from Sumatra and Papua.

Persiraja became the first team to ensure relegation from Liga 1. The club from the western tip of Indonesia had to admit defeat since the 30th week after Barito Putera drew 3-3 with Madura United at the Captain I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, Bali, Wednesday (9/9). / 3) then.

The one point earned by Barito Putera automatically forced Persiraja to shift to League 2 for the second season because they were still stuck at the bottom of the standings or ranked 18th with 13 points.

With five games remaining at that time, Persiraja was also only able to get a maximum of 28 points despite being able to wipe out all matches.

Persiraja, who was the only representative from Sumatra Island, could not maintain their position in the highest caste even though they had changed coaches from Hendri Susilo to Brazilian concocting interpreter Sergio Alexandre until the end of the competition.

Laskar Rencong has also transformed players by recruiting six football dropouts from the Aceh Province PON when they won silver medals at the Papua PON 2021.

The move was made by Persiraja after ejecting 10 players, namely Zamzami, M. Isa, Supriadi, M. Nadhif, Redi Rusmawan, Husnuzhon, Al Fasyimi, M. Robby, as well as two foreign legions, namely Shori Murata (Japan) and Vanja Markovic (Serbia). ).

The next turn, Persela Lamongan following relegation to Liga 2 next season after Barito Putera secured a 2-0 victory over Persik Kediri, last Saturday (19/3).

Persela actually only played on Sunday (20/3) against Bhayangkara FC, but could not catch up with the points from Laskar Antasari who had collected 32 points from 32 matches and was in 15th position.

Laskar Joko Tingkir, who at that time was in 17th position in the standings, had only scored 21 points with three games remaining, so they were unable to catch up with Barito Putera, who was already in a safe position.

The relegation of Persela ended the journey of the pride of the Lamongan community in the highest caste of Indonesian football in the last 18 years.

Persipura down caste

At the east end, Persipura finally had to be relegated in the last week of Liga 1 2021/2022 despite a 3-0 win over Persita Tangerang in week 32 of Liga 1 at Kompyang Sujana Stadium, Denpasar, Bali, last Thursday (31/3).

The victory was not enough for the Mutiara Hitam team because their two competitors, namely Barito Putera and PSS Sleman at the same time achieved the results needed to survive in Liga 1.

Persipura finally followed Persiraja and Persela, two teams that had been kicked out first because they could not earn enough points to secure their position in the highest caste of Indonesian football.

Caste down is clearly very painful for Persipura, especially before they had to be deducted three points by the PSSI Disciplinary Committee due to not coming to the postponed match on week 22, last February 21, against Madura United.

Angel Alfredo Vera's team did not come because they reasoned that many of their players were positive for COVID-19, while PT Liga Indonesia Baru (LIB) required a minimum of 14 players to be negative for COVID-19 in order to compete.

The health check before the match showed that the number of Persipura players who were negative for COVID-19 turned out to be more than 14 people and could play matches.

As a result of being absent from the match, Persipura must also be given a penalty in the form of losing a walkover (WO), a three-point deduction, and a fine of IDR 250 million.

Persipura's attempt to appeal to the PSSI Appeals Commission was rejected, but the appeal for Persipura Manager Arvydas Ridwan Madubun was accepted.

The figure, who is affectionately called Bento Madubun, was previously sentenced to a 12-month ban on football activities and a fine of IDR 50 million.

Perhaps, it would be a different story if Persipura had not been absent at that time. However, the rice has turned into porridge. The most important thing now is to fix the team so that they can achieve the best results in League 2 next season so they can return to League 1.

Sport is not only about winning or losing, but also how to maintain sportsmanship, honesty, health, and keeping the spirit, including how to respond to defeat or victory even though this season's competition is over.