TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – PSSI General Chair, Mochamad Iriawan, finally opened up about the polemic of the BRI Liga 1 match schedule that arose after the Kanjuruhan Tragedy. PT Liga Indonesia Baru rejected the request of the match organizing committee to advance the schedule for the start of the match from evening to evening.
Iriawan admitted that the problem with the match schedule was related to live television broadcasts. He stated that it is related to football as an industry that generates money to finance clubs.
“This match is related to industry. We get money from broadcasting rights. They are also sponsors who sell out. Otherwise, we don’t have money to subsidize clubs,” said Iriawan in an interview with Tempo, in Malang, East Java, Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
The man who is familiarly called Iwan Bule also stated that matches at night were actually commonplace. Not only in BRI Liga 1 this season, in previous seasons there were also many matches that took place tonight.
“From the beginning, there was also a night (match). It just so happened that this was the most tragic incident. We can’t determine because there is a special hour for people to watch it. From the broadcasting side, they look in the mirror as to why it used to be night, why not now, “said he.
“There are still nights and evenings, you can’t shift them both at the same time. This is related to television broadcasting,” he said.
On Saturday, October 1, 2022, PT Liga Indonesia Baru did schedule two matches. In addition to Arema FC vs. Persebaya Surabaya which took place at 20.00 WIB, there was also the Borneo FC vs. Madura United match which took place at 15.30 WIB.
The schedule for the night’s matches was met with protests at the start of the season
Regarding the schedule for the match tonight, a number of clubs had previously protested. Persib Bandung, for example, filed a protest against PT LIB and PSSI because many of their matches took place at night.
The Indonesian Professional Footballers Association (APPI) even assessed that a match that was held too late could affect the health of players. It is based on many research experts.
Furthermore, PT LIB’s rejection of the request to advance the Arema FC vs Persebaya match schedule
