Introductory Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Joko Widodo on the Acceleration of National Football Development in the Limited Meeting on 24 January 2017, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta

Unofficial English Translation 

Good afternoon,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

The limited meeting this afternoon will discuss the acceleration of national football development. We all see that football is a popular sport among the people. Not only that, football is also able to unite us, unite the nation.

Even though Indonesia’s National Football Team (Timnas) Garuda was previously banned by FIFA from international competition, the team’s achievement in the final of the 2016 AFF Cup was a momentum to encourage our national football. Therefore, the government will continue to pay more attention to accelerate our national football development. We should also note that the development of other sports will be fostered continuously.

First, I demand that junior football development should be initiated at early age. We cannot hope that our football team will succeed at the regional or global level if we neglect the junior football development. Therefore, we invite Minister of Education and Culture and Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education to attend this meeting. This matter should be regarded as our common concern encompassing development training in stages at school, more football academies, and more junior competitions.

Second, it is necessary to revamp the system and management of national football competition in order to be more competitive and have more quality that promote fair play. A good competition system will bring out new potential talents from various regions. I have received many reports from Chairman of Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) and we are optimistic with the system and measures which we will continuously improve. I believe that Indonesia’s football will be better in the future.

Third, the management of football clubs should also be our concern. We will also welcome suggestions and aspirations of PSSI.

Fourth, we definitely have to prepare infrastructure of stadiums or training centers that meet requirements. I have asked Minister of Youth and Sports to improve and maintain football fields in villages as public spaces. We must not let the fields used for other purposes, especially for commercial purposes. We should provide more fields, and other than that, we also hope that state-owned enterprises will participate in the development. I think we need to discuss the matter in detail.

I think that is all I can say. (PR Cabinet Secretariat) (SML/AW/YM/Naster)