Why Indonesian Football Can't Shake Its Reputation for Corruption

Those grass stains aren't the only dark mark on Indonesian football. The country's football association, the PSSI, has a reputation for corruption and mismanagement, so much so that it regularly makes headlines for just that.

In 2105, anti-graft investigators launched a probe into allegations that more than a million USD were misused by the league. There have been allegations of footballers not being paid as well as numerous deaths both in the stands and on the pitch.

So you need to take all of this into consideration when reading an interview with former PSS Sleman midfielder Kristian Adelmund conducted by VICE Sports Netherlands. Adelmund, who played in Indonesia for PSS Sleman, Persela Lamongan, and PSIM Yogyakarta, told stories of seeing rival managers walk into the referees' locker room with a gun and of coaches taking cuts of their players' pay.

"None of it was a surprise," Adelmund told VICE Sports Netherlands. "Not in Indonesia at least."

His statements, which we've translated for you here, hit the local press like a wild fire. But is any of it really that big of a surprise? Not at all. The reason Adelmund's allegations of corruption spread through Indonesia so fast was because they were like picking at a scab on a wound that just started to heal. Recent history is full of stories about mismanagement, corruption, and match-fixing in the PSSI.

In 1998, 15 PSSI referees were convicted of match-fixing. In 2011, anti-graft watchdogs accused the PSSI management of stealing Rp 720 billion ($50.4 million USD) from the state budget. By the end of 2011, the PSSI had split in two, with a shadow association springing up to "save" Indonesian football from itself.

A few years later, the PSSI was again accused of skimming some cash off the top of the state budget. The allegations never resulted in a conviction, but the stain of corruption continued to haunt the association for the years to come.

VICE reached out to the media director of the PSSI, a man named Gatot Widakdo, to ask him if he had a response to Adelmund's allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

"Where's the evidence?" Gatot told VICE. "It's something that needs to be proven first. You can't just throw around allegations like that, based on something only you've seen."

Gatot declined to comment further, explaining instead that the PSSI's new management was committed to transparency and professionalism. He said the PSSI was working hard to stop collusion in the league by a loose cadre of coaches, team owners, and referees called the "football mafia" in Indonesia.

"I don't want to comment on the old PSSI management and the problems that followed them," he told VICE. "The PSSI has changed. The organization of any event is conducted with transparency and we are always ready to disclose any information whenever it's necessary."

But others aren't so sure. Sirajudin Hasbi, an observer with the Fandom Football, told VICE that Adelmund’s claims cast a light on the dark side of Indonesia's football scene. It's pretty hard to prove that any corruption is actually happening in the PSSI anymore, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs banned the use of state funds for football back in 2011. Since the money now comes from sponsors and advertisers, it's not being tracked by the likes of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) anymore.

"There are indications of corruption for sure, but it's hard to prove," Hasbi told VICE. "But Adelmund's statements shows that the practice of bribery and match-fixing were still pretty rampant [at the time]."

The story about the football club owner carrying gun into the locker room struck Hasbi as one of the more ridiculous examples in the interview.

“That's got to be the most crude way to influence an outcome of a match,” Hasbi told VICE.

Hasbi, who said he frequently speaks with Adelmund, even today, explained that the PSSI needs to make sure its players get paid better, and on time, if they wanted to actually eradicate match-fixing.

"When players don't get paid, when clubs are underfunded, then match-fixing is an enticing solution to the problem," Hasbi said. "Eradicating these practices entirely might be difficult, but we can certainly work to minimize the involvement of the football mafia."

The true extent of match-fixing in football is still a mystery to most. So much money moves invisibly through so many hands that it's difficult to keep track. Most of the world's football associations claim that match-fixing isn't an issue, but the number of arrests, regionally, tells a different story. Just last year, a dozen players, referees, and team officials were arrested in Thailand on allegations of fixing matches during the 2017 SEA Games.

But as time goes on, and if more money flows down to the football clubs and players, then match-fixing should be less of an issue, Hasbi said. Only then, will the PSSI be able to put its turbulent past behind it.

“The Indonesian football is not a settled industry yet,” he told VICE. “Sometimes the welfare of players, managers, coaches and officials are neglected. When this happens, people are be easily tempted by money, even if the end cost is cheating the whole game.”