DISUNITY IS THE MAIN FACTOR OF THE FAILURE OF INDONESIA IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL COMPETITION

 

It cannot be denied that the condition of football in Indonesia nowadays especially the National Team (TIMNAS) is in very low level considering to the other countries in South East of Asian Nations (ASEAN) such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippine, and the others. It can be seen from the difficulties of TIMNAS to compete with those countries in International level of football competition. The latest competition can be seen is the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 competition in which Indonesia failed entering to the semifinal because they were kicked out by Malaysia. Indonesian Junior Team under 22 (U-22) also in the same condition, they were defeated by Malaysia 0-1 in SCTV Cup 2012 in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on the 9^th of September 2012, reported by :http://www.goal.com/id-ID/news/1387/nasional/2012/12/27/3630256/kaleidoskop-sepakbola-indonesia-2012).

Consider to the condition of TIMNAS, the clubs in Indonesia are competitive enough in ASEAN level. One example can be seen from the match between Semen Padang (Indonesia) VS Negeri 9 (Malaysia) in friendly match 2012. In the first leg which was held in Indonesia on the 23^rd of December 2012, Semen Padang wan with score 2-1 on Negeri 9. On the other hand, in the second leg which was held Malaysia on the 30^th of December 2012, the score was Indonesia 1-1 Malaysia. So the aggregate is 3-2 won by Indonesia, reported by: http://adrianto-forit.blogspot.com/2012/12/hasil-pertandingan-semen-padang-vs.html. This condition shows that there a differentiation between Indonesia in form of TIMNAS and in form of Clubs. The question is why the clubs from Indonesia can compete well with the other clubs in international football competition especially in ASEAN but TIMNAS not?

Actually Indonesia has too many talented players to construct a very strong TIMNAS to compete at least in ASEAN but those who take responsibility in the development of football in Indonesia doesn’t functioned them well. Many players cannot show their talents in fighting for this country because of politic. The politic I mean here is the politic that happened in Indonesia football association that affecting dualism in TIMNAS in which there are two controversial football organizations in Indonesia, which are The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) and The Committee of Indonesian Football Savior (KPSI). KPSI exists due to the uncompetitive TIMNAS made by PSSI ignoring the players from Indonesian Super League (ISL) because ISL is considered as an illegal competition so they just use the players from Indonesian Primer League. This is the first failure of Indonesia in constructing the TIMNAS, and the result was Indonesia defeated by Bahrain 10-0 in World Cup qualification 29^th of February 2012. (http://www.goal.com/id-ID/news/1387/nasional/2012/12/27/3630256/kaleidoskop-sepakbola-indonesia-2012.)

Actually this disunity had been solved after the match with Bahrain, in which the sides of PSSI called the players from ISL to join in TIMNAS but the clubs from ISL didn’t allowed their players to join because they disappointed with the rule made by PSSI before that ignore the players from ISL. So is Indonesia still in the same problem as before. In other words there is no solution to solve the disunity happened in Indonesian Football. Due to the uncompetitive TIMNAS under the sponsorship of PSSI because there is no support from the ISL clubs, KPSI construct another TIMNAS in which the players are taken from Indonesian Super League. I think this is the second failure of Indonesia in creating a unity in Indonesian football, because these two TIMNAS under each of their sponsorship those are PSSI and KPSI against each other. These cases show how Indonesia cannot unite the whole talents own by each player because of dualism. The existence of KPSI that propose to help Indonesia to be more competitive in international level is failed; moreover it adds the disunity which had happened before.

The question is how to make Indonesia to be more competitive in the next? I think it is a very simple question that can be answered by the whole people in Indonesia but difficult to be realized. Indonesian National Team can be more competitive if they cropped out the disunity or the dualism in Indonesian football association. Disperse KPSI and join to only one organization which has acknowledgment from FIFA that is PSSI and combined the both TIMNAS by making more selection of the players from IPL and ISL to make a strong and competitive TIMNAS. I believe that if there is a unity in Indonesian football, the competitive team is not only a dream but can be realized. It can be seen from the latest TIMNAS constructed before the dualism in AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 under the leadership of Alfred Riedel, and the Junior Team under 23 (U-23) in Sea Games under the leadership of Rahmad Dermawan. Even though Indonesia just being the runner up in these two competition, but they show a very attractive and competitive playing.

I think everybody in Indonesia hope the dualism can be stopped. One progressive step had been made by The Minister of Youth and Sport of Indonesia (Menpora) by giving permission to both IPL and ISL to run their competition under three conditions, they are: Both sides must have commitment to avoid the dualism and make a united competition; both sides must have commitment to make one competitive TIMNAS; and the league operator sides have to finish all the obligation of clubs to their players including the arrears of honor and so on.(http://sport.detik.com/sepakbola/read/2013/01/05/141311/2133963/76/pemerintah-persilakan-ipl-isl-bergulir-dengan-3-syarat). This policy is supported by the new manager of TIMNAS, Mesak Manibor. On Friday, 4^th of January 2012, he called 51 players in preparation to the qualification of ASIAN Cup 2015. These players were not only taken from IPL but also ISL, including Boaz Solossa dan Patrich Wanggai. Besides the two players, there are also some professional players such as Taufiq, Ahmad Bustomi, Irfan Bachdim, Egi Melgiansyah, Andik Vermansah, Oktovianus Maniani, Vendry Mofu, and the others. (http://sport.detik.com/sepakbola/read/2013/01/04/183350/2133607/76/timnas-panggil-51-pemain-termasuk-boaz-dan-wanggai). I think it is a very good start done by Indonesian football management in order to create a competitive TIMNAS. At least these players have ever showed their best performance in AFF Suzuki Cup, Sea Games and the other competitions.

As one of the Indonesian football lovers, I hope this good start doesn’t stop here, but it can be continue until bringing back Indonesia into a unity football association with a strong and unbeatable TIMNAS by avoiding politic interest from the whole aspects of football in Indonesia. I believe that if the disunity or dualism in Indonesia has been solved, Indonesia will come up as a successful team in international competition, especially in ASEAN. For all football lovers in Indonesia, also the managers of football association in Indonesia, let’s support this country to find back the unity not only in football, but also in the whole aspects of life.

(Penulis: Risad Kollo)