The Indonesian Professional Footballers’ Association (APPI) have urged both the Football Federation of Indonesia (PSSI) and league operators PT Liga Indonesia Baru to take action towards PSM Makassar. The Juku Eja are still yet to pay the salaries of 17 of their players and should PSM fail to live up to their obligations, the South Sulawesi-based club could be slapped with various sanctions, the worst of them could see PSM being forbidden to participate in the upcoming Liga 1 Indonesia season.
The APPI have released on Friday a list of Liga 1 and Liga 2 clubs who have yet to pay wages owed to their players prior to the start of the 2021 season. PSM were the only Liga 1 club on that list as the remaining clubs were all from Liga 2 – Persis Solo, PSPS Riau, Sriwijaya FC, PSKC Kota Cimahi, Persijap Jepara, PSMS Medan, and Kalteng Putra.
And while the presence of Kaesang Pangarep and Norizam Tukiman at the boards of Persis and PSPS respectively could see the settlement of the two clubs’ outstanding wages in the near future – with the wages owed being a result of mismanagement done by the clubs’ previous owners – the presence of repeat offenders Kalteng Putra and PSM in the list are worrying signs for the clubs in question.
Kalteng Putra’s financial woes are very well-documented all the way from 2019, when the Laskar Isen Mulang embarked on their first and so far only stint in the Liga 1. Starting off the season with ambitious aspirations that include listing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Forlan as their transfer targets, Kalteng Putra end the 2019 season with not only a relegation, but with their financial affairs in complete tatters. Until today, a number of ex-Kalteng Putra players are still voicing their grievances after the club had failed to pay them for months.
PSM, on the other hand, despite consistently qualifying to Asian competitions in recent years found themselves in the red financially, with their players going unpaid for months.
The APPI’s report stated that PSM are owing 17 of their players their wages, however the report did not disclose how much money that the Juku Eja must pay.
“We at the APPI would remind that clubs must sort out their outstanding wages as soon as possible. With the new season only three weeks away, it is vital for clubs to tie up their financial arrears, otherwise they will be punished with being barred from registering new players for three transfer windows, which would lead to them being unable to participate in competitions,” said Persija Jakarta goalkeeper Andritany Ardhiyasa, who is the vice-chairman of APPI, as quoted from Goal Indonesia.
PSM captain Zuklifli Syukur told Jawa Pos that he and his fellow Juku Eja players have been urging the club’s management to settle their owed wages before the start of the 2021 season and they actually responded well to the players’ demands. The former Arema FC player is confident that the PSM management could sort the unpaid wages out in time.
“The management is currently communicating intensively with the players regarding this issue,” said Zulkifli as quoted from Jawa Pos, “I believe that they could pay out all of the unpaid wages in time before the league starts at the end of this month.”