Elusive fair play

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 11/06/2007 5:11 PM  |  Opinion

Finally we fully understand why Indonesia is still struggling to win international credit in soccer, and sports in general, despite having plenty of talent.

Indonesian soccer remains so much more a playing field for officials to cling to power, and perhaps reap personal gain, than an arena for the enhancement of talent to win international laurels.

The public, the key stakeholder of national soccer, has been watching in disbelief the ongoing stand-off between the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and the world soccer governing body FIFA. The chairman of the PSSI, Nurdin Halid, has been convicted of misappropriating state money allocated for the importation of sugar cane. FIFA says the PSSI must elect a new chairman, but the PSSI says it has no intention of doing so.

Not even Vice President Jusuf Kalla has managed to persuade Nurdin to resign.

Part of the problem lies with the PSSI, which supports Nurdin, who was elected in April, and is allowing him to run the national soccer body from within prison.

FIFA said in a letter sent to PSSI that ""FIFA and AFC (Asian Football Confederation) did not recognize the elections held in Makassar in April. The FIFA Executive Committee, the highest body of football, confirmed this decision and instructed the PSSI to organize new elections under the dual supervision of FIFA and AFC"".

The huge flag reading ""Fair Play"" that is paraded across the pitch prior to a match is apparently meaningless to the PSSI.

""Fair play"", according to sports experts R.S. Weinberg and D. Gould, refers to all participants having an equitable chance to pursue victory, and acting toward others in an honest, straightforward, firm and dignified manner even when others do not play fairly.

""Fair play"" is the spirit the Olympic Games movement has promoted ever since Pierre de Coubertin launched the international sports competition back in 1896.

FIFA itself states in its founding statute that its upholds the core values of authenticity, unity, performance and integrity. And the organization believes that it must be a model of fair play, tolerance, sportsmanship and transparency.

It's ironic that even as PSSI refuses to set a good model for fair play and sportsmanship in Indonesia, as a FIFA member is bears the responsibility to preserve and promote moral values.

While in jail, Nurdin has enjoyed several privileges to enable him to keep his job, most notably a cellular phone.

For Nurdin, who is a Golkar politician and businessman, the PSSI chairmanship is probably the respectable position left for him to stay alive in the national scene following Golkar's decision to revoke his comeback bid to the House of Representatives. Golkar revised its endorsement of Nurdin to fill the seat left vacant by Andi Matalatta, who won a ministerial post, only after mounting public pressure.

Nurdin has argued that he is defending the PSSI chairmanship to respect the organization's mandate following its unanimous support for his election.

The Indonesian Athletics Association set a bad precedent for the PSSI when the former maintained timber tycoon Mohammad ""Bob"" Hasan as chairman despite his serving a jail sentence between 2001 and 2004 for his conviction in a graft case. Everybody knows that like soccer, athletics is a sport in which Indonesia lags behind neighboring countries.

The cases of Nurdin and Hasan, a golfing buddy of former president Soeharto, suggest the need to overhaul national sports and take it away from political-oriented affairs back to its original nature as chief promoter of moral values.

The PSSI in particular and national sports organizations in general have long been managed by individuals with links to those in power. Indonesian sports needs devoted leaders, not those with vested interests.

Without a change in the mindset of PSSI officials, who oddly feel quite comfortable working with a convict, Indonesian soccer will plunge further into the abyss.

Instead of debating FIFA's order, which is already crystal clear, the PSSI has more important jobs ahead, such as ensuring the domestic league is run fairly and is free from match-fixing, improving the quality of coaches and players and enhancing its talent scouting program.

But the PSSI must beware of attracting an international ban if it doesn't comply with the FIFA order. As a consequence, Indonesia will be unable to play in international competitions sanctioned by FIFA.

Nevertheless, fair play will make the greatest sacrifice in this power play.

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