Friday, May 26, 2017
Perseru's Game With Persija Postponed
The issue of club licensing can be a tricky subject inn Indonesia thanks to a scattergun approach to its implementation. When the Indonesia Super League began back in 2009 for example all clubs were required to have coaches with A licenses but this has not always been the can. Witness Persib for example. In 2014 when they won the ISL their coach Djadjang Nurdjaman lacked the necessary badges but was allowed to remain in his post. But when Persib entered the 2015 AFC Cup he wasn't allowed the coach the team and another coach was brought in for those games.
Going back to 2009 Persitara had already seen Jacksen F Tiago and Richard Azreg come and go in the hot seat. Facing sanctions from the ISL if they couldn't appoint a coach the side from North Jakarta finally appointed Dirk Buitelaar, a 71 year old Dutchman with a brief, according to the club at the time, to focus on the technical side of things. Indeed teamsheets suggest Buitelaar was named as a Technical Director.
Forward in time to 2015 and it was licencing issues that saw the PSSI suspended by FIFA. The outfit that oversees sports in the country raised concerns over Arema and Surabaya United which the PSSI ignored. This of course led to security clearance for games being with held and the government ceasing to recognise the PSSI as the people in charge of the game.
There is no doubt the need to license clubs is vital. Without it clubs cannot enter AFC domestic competitions while some clubs may not be too concerned about that for other, more ambitious, more professional clubs it is a matter of great importance. Licensing covers a number of areas including infrastructure, financing, sporting, legal and personnel & administrative. Crucially, licences cannot be transfered which could be a cause of concern for a number of teams.
At the start of the 2017 Liga 1 season there were some concerns Perseru would not be able to play their home games at their Marora Stadium because access was difficult with some clubs facing trips of more than 24 hours factoring in transit time. That issue was addressed with the introduction of regular flights between Jayapura and Biak.
Given then that the Marora Stadium had been given the green light, and assuming the stadium met all the benchmarks why has Perseru's home game with Persija, scheduled for Sunday been postponed? In the letter sent from Liga to Persija on Wednesday among the reasons stated for the postponement include the floodlights which would not, apparently, ;support' a night fixture. Ok, the floodlights are inadequate yet the stadium was approved for Liga 1 games? Ordinarily Perseru games kick off in the afternoon but for the fasting month all games are evening kick offs to allow the players to break the fast before kicking off. No one anticipated this could be an issue when the go ahead was given to use Marora Stadium?
Not for the first time administrators are reacting to situations rather than anticipating them. And what does this incident say about the whole licensing process in Indonesia when something as basic as floodlighting is overlooked?
The game has now been rescheduled to early August.
# posted by Me @ 9:31 AM 
