Accused Of Playing 12 Players Against Barito Putera, PSM Gives Response

PSM Makassar gave an official statement regarding the controversy of fielding 12 players in the match against Barito Putera (Instagram/@psm_makassar).

JAKARTA - PSM Makassar gave a serious response regarding the excess number of players who appeared in the match against Barito Putera. Juku Eja explained in detail what happened in the field.

PSM Makassar and Barito Putera met in the 16th week of Liga 1 2024/2025, Sunday, December 22, 2024. In that match, Juku Eja won over Laskar Antasari with a score of 3-2.

However, this victory was accompanied by controversy because PSM Makassar was known to field 12 players on the field ahead of the end of clashes between the two teams.

Regarding this incident, PSM has an explanation regarding the situation on the ground. They said that what the team was doing was appropriate.

"PSM made three substitutions simultaneously in the last minute of the match, 90+7 minutes to be exact."

"This substitution takes advantage of the final replacement slot," said PSM media officer, Sulaiman Abdul Karim, in a written statement quoted Monday, December 23, 2024.

Before PSM made a substitution, Sulaiman explained that according to procedures, the coaching team would hand over the form of substitution to the reserve referee.

"After the substitution form was handed over, the reserve referee then also checked the three players. Were the three registered in the Match Lineup (DSP)," he said.

The substitution procedure is the authority of the referee to regulate the entry and exit of the players of both teams on the field of the match.

"In the PSM vs Barito Putera incident, PSM substitutes entered the field based on directions from the reserve referee. Likewise, the substitute players, who of course followed the direction of the main referee."

"In that situation, the play on was determined so that players (who were replaced) could not and were not asked by the main referee to leave the field," said Sulaiman again.

Previously, this incident became crowded because of the process launched by Barito Putera coach, Rahmad Darmawan. He said PSM played with 12 players at the end of the match when defeating his team.

Rahmad Darmawan explained that the commotion occurred because PSM did not accept being reminded that they played with 12 players.

"The match actually lasted interestingly until it was running for a few minutes, there was a change from PSM. Why was there a commotion? There was one violation from the match."

"If a player in a match has an unauthorized player playing, it means the team will be sanctioned with a three-point deduction or a loss."

"Why did I say it was invalid because they played with 12 players. There was clearly a recording."

"Earlier we tried to convey that there were 12 players, but they were even emotional. We will continue by sending an official letter," said Rahmad.