Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Erick Thohir met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace, Jakarta on Friday afternoon, April 28, 2023, not long after returning from his umrah pilgrimage. According to a statement from the Palace, the SOE Minister came to report to Jokowi regarding the development of football in the country.
“Mr Erick today met Mr President because he had just returned from Umrah, in a short time he will have a press conference at the PSSI Office,” the Presidential Secretariat’s deputy for protocol, press and media Bey Machmudin told reporters on Friday, April 28, 2023.
Erick was not willing to comment much on his meeting with Jokowi. It has been reported that on April 10, 2023, Erick was directly informed by FIFA about its decision to give Indonesia a light sanction following the cancellation of Indonesia’s rights to host the U20 World Cup.
FIFA recommended freezing aid funds for the development of football in Indonesia, FIFA Forward, a program aimed at providing funding for the development of football in FIFA member countries.
On March 29, 2023, FIFA officially canceled the 2023 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia due to “current conditions”, presumably related to the Indonesia’s rejection towards the arrival of the Israeli team.
Source: Tempo
