The decision to hold an extraordinary congress aims to expedite the resumption of football competitions, as various parties rely on football events for their lifeline, according to the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
“I only want the competition to resume immediately. Suspension of competitions will diminish the pride of our football,” PSSI Chairperson Mochamad Iriawan noted as per the statement on Monday.
The chairperson denied having evaded responsibility for the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy that claimed 135 lives. Iriawan said he had no intention to be unresponsive to the tragedy.
He added that the PSSI allowed the extraordinary congress to proceed, as the decision was made by PSSI executive committee members.
“We agree to propose to FIFA to expedite the congress and the extraordinary congress to respond to the fact-finding team recommendations to ensure football competitions in Indonesia could resume again. Moreover, requests from our voters also influence our decisions,” Iriawan expounded.
The PSSI head expressed optimism that FIFA, as the governing body of football, would accommodate the organization of the extraordinary congress.
“Today, we plan to send the letter notifying the extraordinary congress to FIFA, so, let us wait and be patient. I also hope we can end our grief, and competitions could resume soon,” he remarked.
Earlier, on Friday (October 28), the PSSI decided to organize an extraordinary congress following an executive committee emergency meeting.
Iriawan explained that the decision was taken to organize the extraordinary congress to prevent division among PSSI constituent members.
The decision to organize the extraordinary congress was taken despite the PSSI Statute regulating that the congress takes place three months after 50 percent, or two-thirds of the PSSI members requested its organization by a written statement, he explained.
He noted that currently, only two PSSI members — Persis Solo and Persebaya Surabaya — had requested an extraordinary congress.
Source: Antara News