TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced the groundbreaking of the national training center for the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) which will be funded by FIFA. Jokowi stated that there will be six to eight training fields in IKN.

"The [development] will be funded directly by FIFA. Meaning, the international football scene believes in us," the President said as quoted from the Cabinet Secretariat press conference on Friday, September 22, 2023.

Jokowi is optimistic that the national training center will bolster the achievement of the Indonesian national team in the upcoming five to ten years. He believes Indonesia will dominate the Southeast Asian and Asian football scene.

Meanwhile, the head of PSSI Erick Thohir met with FIFA Regional Director Asia Oceania Sanjeevan C Balasingam and FIFA Lead Regional Office Lavin Vignesh, in Jakarta last Thursday. He expressed appreciation for FIFA's concern for Indonesia's state of football.

During the meeting, Erick and FIFA's delegation discussed the plan for national training center development. Indonesia received Rp100 billion from the FIFA Forward program.

"This is our first training center, subsequently a historic moment for us since it's the first foreign investment in IKN as well as the proof of trust from the international community to IKN," Erick said in a written statement today.

The training center will stand on 30 hectares of land, including a dorm and indoor training facility. The development of the training fields will be handled by PSSI while the supporting facilities by the PUPR Ministry.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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