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BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – Hit by a coronavirus match freeze and massive pay cuts, unemployed Indonesian footballers have been forced to take on menial jobs like selling street food or working as security guards, with little end to the view.
Many leagues around the world have resumed play, mainly in empty stadiums. But Indonesia’s League 1 is not expected to restart until early next year as cases continue to rise in the Southeast Asian nation.
Deflated coaches and players, hit by league-sanctioned pay cuts of up to 75 percent, have called for Indonesia to take the lead from other countries, including neighboring Malaysia and Thailand, where professional soccer has started with safety restrictions. Covid-19.
Bagus Nirwanto is used to playing in front of thousands of fans, as PSS Sleman’s captain. But after his salary was cut in half, he went on to sell rice and sugar in bulk with his wife.
He and other players are struggling to stay fit and dealing with the psychological cost of not playing.
“I am totally disappointed that the competition has been postponed,” said Nirwanto, 27, whose team is based in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta.
“We were very excited and trained hard for our first match … We should have been able to hold matches without the crowd.”
‘Everything is a disaster’
The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) initially gave the green light for the resumption of matches in October, but later reversed its decision.
Djadjang Nurdjaman, PS Barito Putera’s coach, was forthright about what the delay means for him and his players.
“Everything is a disaster and everything we had planned is ruined. There is no certainty. We don’t know what (the league) is going to do,” said the coach, whose team is based in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
“He has taken a great price from the players … This doesn’t make any sense,” he added.
Many Indonesian players reportedly earn as little as $ 2,000 a month.
“We cannot deny that there is a domino effect,” the president of the soccer association, Mochamad Iriawan, told AFP.
“The competition has frozen and this affects the income of the club, which in turn affects the players (salaries). But we cannot force the clubs to give the players their full salary as in a normal situation,” he added .
Some players have started selling homemade cakes and frozen coconut drinks to passersby or simple street food like chicken satay (roasted meat sticks with peanut sauce), while a footballer in North Sumatra found work as a guard. security of a bank.
‘We all panic’
Andri Muliadi, a Borneo FC player who brought his family to Sumatra after matches were suspended, said he is helping promote his in-laws’ small coffee business online.
“We all panicked when the pandemic hit,” the 27-year-old told AFP.
“I had no choice but to find an alternative way to earn money to support my family during this difficult time … Players have to find other ways to earn money.”
Muliadi, who plays soccer with his neighbors to keep fit, is also struggling to keep a pre-existing business afloat that supplied electric fans for special events.
“Business has been really affected since March after the government banned crowds, including weddings,” he said.
“Things were very slow.”
Salary cuts aside, many players have seen their training schedules spiral out of control with no matches to play.
“We cannot grow professionally unless there is competition,” said Muliadi of Borneo FC.
Dutchman Robert Rene Alberts, coach of Persib Bandung, said the longer the delay lasts, the more difficult it will be to keep players in shape, physically and mentally.
“Players work a lot on emotion, preparation and want to be the best they can be all the time,” he said.
“Once you prepare for something and it cancels and then you prepare again and it cancels, it becomes very difficult to step up every time,” he added.
‘My only livelihood’
The pandemic marks the latest challenge for the 18 teams in League 1 and two lower divisions, which have been marred on the world stage by a number of problems over the years, including match-fixing scandals and vandalism. mortal.
The well-being of players was previously in the spotlight when at least two foreign players died after they were unable to pay for medical care due to unpaid wages.
Although it has a low international profile, Indonesia has attracted Premier League players such as former Chelsea star Michael Essien and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora.
But most local players are paid a fraction of the foreign talent.
“I’m really racking my head to figure out how to support my four children,” said winger Supardi Nasir, 37, captain of Persib Bandung.
“Playing football is my only livelihood.”
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