Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
The third week of the 2019 Shopee Liga 1 ended last Friday and the league will enter a hiatus due to the FIFA International Match Days and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, also called ‘Lebaran’ in Indonesia.
During this game week, several of the weaker teams got a Lebaran’s gift before the league’s break to improve their standing.
The first is Arema FC, who finally picked up points after coming from behind and win against another club from East Java, Persela Lamongan on Monday (27/5). Even though Persela took the lead twice, Singo Edan roared back to sealed the win. In fact, Persela were the only one who defeated Arema in the pre-season tournament, Piala Presiden.
Arema were not the only side to be given a Lebaran’s gift on the third week, as ‘new’ relocated team Badak Lampung FC finally “broke the curse” by winning against newly promoted side Kalteng Putra at the Sultan Agung Bantul stadium in Yogyakarta, the temporary stadium for Kalteng Putra, the next day.
The host had a big chance in the 17th minutes after Ferdinando Pahabol was fouled by Kurniawan Karman in the penalty box. However, Patrich Wanggai, who decided as the penalty kick taker, was unable to convert from the spot. The away team stole a goal in the injury time of the first half by Abdul Rahman Lestaluhu’s header after winning an aerial duel from a corner kick.
Meanwhile, another club from Kalimantan also earned a negative result as Borneo FC lost 3-0 against Madura United, who are lead by their ex-coach, Dejan Antonic. Meanwhile, Barito Putera lost 4-2 against Bhayangkara FC in Bekasi. Flavio Beck Junior became the hero for Bhayangkara FC after scoring a hat-trick and made The Guardians, a club who owned by Indonesian Police Department, get their first win this season.
On Wednesday (29/5) two matches ended without any goals. In Padang, Persib Bandung found it hard to score after heavy rain at the Haji Agus Salim Stadium, home of the 2018 Liga 2 runners-up, Semen Padang. While in Bogor, PSM Makassar once again played in Pakansari stadium, which became their home stadium for their AFC Cup campaign, when they faced the original tenants, PS TIRA-Persikabo. These results mean that Persib, PSM, and TIRA-Persikabo are the only remaining clubs who are yet to concede this season.
The next day, Persebaya Surabaya meet PSIS Semarang in a game that ended 1-1, a score which was replicated in the game Persipura Jayapura against PSS Sleman on Friday (31/5).
But not every club got a Lebaran’s gift this game week. The reigning champions, Persija Jakarta, are still yet to find a win this season, after being defeated 1-0 Bali United with a goal from Portuguese playmaker, Paulo Sergio. Bali’s win extended their perfect record and helped them remain level on points with Madura United, as they go into the break in second place.
New Weeks, Same Story
Like an Indonesian proverb: “Old same songs on the new cassette,” the third week of 2019 Shopee Liga 1 ended with a referee’s controversial decision. Last week, PSS Sleman earned a controversial penalty kick after Kushedya Hari Yudo was brought down at the penalty box. This week, Bali United were the beneficiaries after Ricky Fajrin’s handball not seen by the referee in the middle of the first half.
Amid all the controversy, the PSSI are looking for an option to use the VAR system on the league. However, past attempts to implement new systems, such as communication devices for referees, have not inspired confidence.
An interesting incident occurred this week around that issue after Thoriq Alkatiri and his colleagues used their own communication devices when they officiated the Madura United versus Borneo FC match on Tuesday (28/5).
But aside from the infrastructure like VAR and communication devices, our referees still continue to make bad calls, like the clash between Elisa Basna of Persebaya Surabaya against Fredyan Wahyu of PSIS Semarang when both clubs met at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium. Elisa’s assault on Fredyan occurred when he was chasing the ball, resulted in only a yellow card by referee Muhammad Adung, even though television replays suggested it clearly warranted a straight red card. PSIS have already reported Elisa and referee Adung to the federation.
This is far from an isolated incident, as evidenced by the PSSI Secretary-General, Ratu Tisha Destria, who has stressed the importance of players’ safety. “PSSI have a concern to evaluate the referee and discuss with APPI (Indonesian Professional Footballers Association) to giving a seminar or socialization to the players about foul and its risks, injury problems and so on for the safety issues,” he said, cited from bolasport.com
Indonesian football has a legacy of bad stories and safety issues. In 2009 Jumadi Abdi of PKT Bontang was fouled by Denny Tarkas of Persela Lamongan. Jumadi received intensive treatment in the hospital died a month after incident exposed intestinal infection, while Denny banned from professional football for 4 months.
A similar incident was repeated in 2017 in Liga 2 match between Persiraja Banda Aceh against PSAP Sigli. Persiraja’s striker, Akli Fairuz, crashed with PSAP’s goalkeeper, Agus Rohman. Akli’s stomach was stepped on by Rohman’s foot and the player died six days later, while the goalkeeper banned one year due to the incident.
But in regards to the recent issue, thankfully Fredyan was not hospitalized, and both him with Elisa were conversing about the incident after the match. Elisa apologized and expressed his hope that Fredyan recovers soon. I hope we can create a better situation in Indonesian football, with less tragedy on and off the field, and put an end to the recurring threats to players and supporters.