Jakarta, IO – SOE Minister Erick Thohir officially replaced Mochamad Iriawan as chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) at its extraordinary congress, Thursday (16/2). He will assume the position until 2027.
Erick won 64 votes, beating AA Lanyalla Mattalitti, Arif Putra Wicaksono and Doni Setiabudi.
Erick is no stranger to Indonesian sports scene. He is the chairman of Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI), owner of the Satria Muda basketball club, and sits in the executive board of Liga 1 team Persib Bandung FC.
He is also renowned globally as the owner of DC United (the football club of Washington, DC), Inter Milan and Philadelphia 76ers basketball club.
Together with Anindya Bakrie, he is also the majority shareholder of Oxford United, which plays in the first division of the Premier League. During the 2018 Asian Games, he was chairman of INASGOC, the local committee. He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2019.
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Erick faces a daunting task at PSSI. He previously emphasized that he would clean up “dirty hands” in the Indonesian football scene. Regarding competition, Erick is of the view that competition in Indonesia must use a five-tier system. His most immediate task is to solve the problems faced by Liga 2 and Liga 3 which suffered a reputational damage post Kanjuruhan stadium tragedy that killed 133 supporters. (rr)