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 9th 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 23rd
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 30th 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 29th 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, 4th 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)
