President Cup, PSSI: Pure Sport Tournament, No Political Agenda
Translator
Editor
20 February 2019 09:59 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) denies the annual President Cup Tournament (Piala Presiden) – entering its third year - is used as a practical political arena, as the tournament’s chief executive Iwan Budianto asserted.
“This is purely a tournament in preparation of teams competing in Liga 1 Indonesia,” said Iwan during the President Cup draw on Tuesday.
He affirmed that it has entered its third year and is not exclusive to 2019.
According to Iwan, the President Cup is intentionally scheduled to start prior to the Liga 1 Indonesia and Liga 2 Indonesia so they can act as a testing ground for soccer clubs to test out their squads before the official season begins.
20 participants consisting of Liga 1 and Liga 2 teams are set to play at the President Cup starting on March 2, 2019, up to April 12, 2019.
Previous news saw soccer expert Akmal Marhali from Save Our Soccer criticizing the federation for placing too much attention at the President Cup tournament. He argues that the Indonesia Cup (Piala Indonesia), entering its second year, should be given more attention.
ADITYA BUDIMAN
