Sama seperti tafsir agama, setiap orang punya cara masing-masing untuk menafsirkan sepakbola. Ada yang puas dengan hanya membeli jersey, ada yang sudah nyaman dengan hanya menonton di layar kaca, atau bahkan ada yang merasa cukup membaca di surat kabar.
Tapi saya punya cara tafsir yang berbeda akan sepakbola. Saya merasa untuk ikut ambil bagian dalam sebuah ritual olahraga yang diturunkan Tuhan ini, saya harus datang ke stadion untuk berbagi emosi dengan ribuan orang yang terhipnotis oleh 22 orang yang berebut bola di lapangan hijau.
Indonesian Football Diary adalah catatan saya dalam rangka usaha lari sejenak dari berbagai rutinitas untuk menonton sepakbola di penjuru nusantara.
Anda bisa mengontak saya via email: siahaan@ymail.com
Salam,
Pangeran Siahaan
Hi Pangeran,
I follow your articles at The Globe. Having just moved to Jakarta I’m interested in finding out a bit more about what is going on with the domestic League situation here. Was wondering if you could point in the direction of a good, up to date explanation of the current Super League / Premier League landscape, and how you think it will go in the future.
Thanks – look forward to hearing your views.
Mark
hi Mark,
i sent you an email
thx
Hey Pangeran,
Thanks – not received e-mail yet but have put it on the form below just to make sure.
Cheers for getting back to me.
Mark
Hi Mark, thanks for reading my blogs.
Im not sure whether you’re already aware of this, but there’s been a massive overhaul within Indonesian FA. The previous regime has been ousted, replaced by those who were perceived as pro-reform activists. Or so they think. Indonesian League is known to be one of top-rated leagues in AFC (proven by the automatic spot in Asian Champions League for Indonesian champions. Other leagues in the region (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore) dont have such privilege).
But the standards of the league had been awful. There were accusations of match-fixing and the champions had been fixed at the start of the season. The league was meant to be professional, but it was far from it. It affected the national team of course. Uncompetitive league produced an uncompetitive national side.
So the new FA officials is trying to reform the league by developing a whole different structure. These guys who now run the league are the same guys with those who ran the breakawak league, Liga Primer Indonesia, which was formed last year as a political pressure to the then-FA regime.
Last month they conducted a verification process to select which teams suitable for the top-flight, which team not. There were 5 points of assessment, according to the AFC rules, but the league hasnt published the details to date, they only published those who passed the test without details.
They said the league is going to be divided in two regions considering the financial cost to stage a traditional league. It will make us a league with the biggest number of contestants with 34 clubs (cmiiw) participating. Outrageous, but they said it got to be done.
Quite frankly, im yet to figure out where the train is heading from here. They havent released the exact kickoff date and i was told that not all clubs that passed the verification will make it to the top tier. There will be further examination and there’s a possibility of those who didnt make it in first screening can pass the second one. Never doubt our amazing ability to make things less efficient.
Also there are ownership rows on 3 big Indonesian clubs: Persija Jakarta, Arema Malang, and Persebaya Surabaya. The first two seem to be solved in near future (if not already), but the problem in Persebaya is still raging. Persebaya is one of three Super League teams who defected to LPI last season. It has rich history and one of the biggest following in the country, it’s pretty understandable why everybody wants a piece of Persebaya.
Until the league make it all clear (some say they havent had the manual book yet!), i cant make any prediction beyond this smoke screen.
Pangeran
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latest update: The league is reconsidering their decision to stage two-conference league and it seems we’ll have a single conference league. It looks more like a proper football league but it could cost clubs big fortune considering the travel and accomodation they have to make to cross the country
Thanks Pangeran.
Looks like the league has done a u-turn! Too much resistence to Plan B so what the hell, back to Plan A!
Mark