The government cannot step in to force the resignation of the PSSI chief
" I'll share this (the aspirations to PSSI). The choice, however, is up to PSSI "
An official said that despite the public calling for PSSI Chairperson Mochamad Iriawan to resign in the wake of the Kanjuruhan catastrophe, the government was unable to interfere with the PSSI's administration.
Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali emphasized this point on Sunday. "PSSI, which is under the auspices of the international federation of association football FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), has its own rules, so it will be impossible for the government to intervene," he said.
After officially opening the 56th National Horse Racing Championship of the Indonesian Sporthorse Society (Pordasi), he recalled that FIFA had imposed penalties on Indonesia in 2015 as a result of the government's interference in the operation of PSSI.
On May 30, 2015, FIFA, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sanctioned Indonesia by rescinding PSSI's membership, which prevented all Indonesian national teams and clubs from competing in international tournaments for nearly a year.
The minister said, "I do not want that to happen again."
However, he said, the government permits the populace to voice their desires, including calling for the PSSI director to step down.
"I'll share this (the aspirations to PSSI). However, PSSI will ultimately decide "He declared.
The highest-level professional soccer league in Indonesia, Liga 1, was put on indefinite hiatus following the Kanjuruhan tragedy. According to Amali, the joint independent fact-finding team (TGIPF) is working to complete its investigation of the incident within a month so that play can resume as soon as possible.
He said, "The president (Joko Widodo or Jokowi) had also asked me to study it (the tournament's execution) thoroughly.
To debate the president's directive, the Youth and Sports Ministry earlier conducted a meeting with a number of stakeholders, including PSSI, soccer club managements, a number of fan organisations, the police, the Home Affairs Ministry, and the Health Ministry.
"The investigation into the Kanjuruhan incident was given one month by the president to be finished. However, Mahfud MD, the head of TGIPF, requested that we (the team) do it before the deadline "said the minister.
In the meantime, the minister stated that his team was still waiting for instructions from President Jokowi regarding the creation of a soccer transformation team, which was proposed by FIFA and the Indonesian government to improve the development of football in Indonesia following the Kanjuruhan stampede.