PSS Sleman have found themselves sitting on -3 points after they were sanctioned by the Football Federation of Indonesia (PSSI) over a bribery scandal that involved the team back in their Liga 2 Indonesia days in 2018.
The scandal in question involved former club employees Kartiko Mustikaningtyas (liaisons officer), Antonius Rumadi (operations director), and Dewanto Rahatmoyo (general director’s assistant) who were tasked by known match-fixer Vigit Waluyo to bribe the officials for PSS’s match against Madura FC.
The match in question, which was part of the 2018 Liga 2’s round of 8, ended in a 1-0 win for PSS, with the winning goal being questionable in nature. Madura FC’s Choirul Rifan had scored an own-goal that secured all three points for the Super Elja, however the buildup towards the goal saw Ilhamur Irhas being clearly in an offside position before he released the shot that was deflected into the Madura FC goal by Rifan – an oversight that was done on purpose by the match’s officials.
Since then PSS went on to win the 2018 Liga 2, establishing themselves as a proper Liga 1 Indonesia side in the years that came afterwards, while Madura FC were relegated into the Liga 3 Indonesia in 2019, with the club reportedly merging with local rivals Perssu Sumenep in 2023 to form Perssu Madura City.
The case itself came into public attention as part of the Indonesian National Police’s crackdown on betting website SBOTOP in October of 2023, with the perpetrators behind the fix being arrested on December of the same year.
It was reported that Vigit had instructed the PSS employees to bribe the officials for the Madura FC match amounting to IDR 1 billion to ensure that they would favor the Super Elja during the match, which in turns ensures PSS’ promotion to the top-flight.
Following the police investigation, the PSSI’s Disciplinary Committee had came to a decision on August 8th to sanction PSS over the scandal, deducting three points off them and fining them IDR 150 million.
Since PSS had lost their opening match of the 2024/25 season 1-0 to Persebaya Surabaya on Sunday, that meant that the Super Elja are sitting on -3 points in the latest standings.
The decision was met with disappointment from Indonesian football fans, who felt that the sanction was a mere slap on the wrist compared to the crime that the PSS club employees had done. They felt that the Super Elja should’ve been relegated, just like what happened to Juventus in the wake of the 2006 Calciopoli scandal.