Erick Thohir: Indonesian league must stay clean, with no match-fixing at season’s end

PSSI chairman Erick Thohir has called for a clean Indonesian football league and warned stakeholders against match-fixing at the end of the season.

Speaking at a BRI and I League ceremony in Jakarta, Thohir said the responsibility extended beyond the football federation and league operator. Clubs, sponsors, media organizations, coaches and players all needed to work together to protect the competition’s integrity.

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The game needs a goalkeeper, sir, not just someone who scores goals.

He used a football analogy to describe the roles of BRI and I League, saying the game needed more than players who scored goals. “The game needs a goalkeeper, sir, not just someone who scores goals,” he said.

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Because if BRI does not continue to maintain this in line with the president’s direction, how can Indonesia achieve economic equality? By growing small and medium-sized businesses and the economy, we can increase the purchasing power of lower-income people.

Thohir praised BRI for supporting Indonesian football and said the bank’s role also connected with efforts to broaden economic growth. He linked support for small and medium-sized businesses to stronger purchasing power among lower-income communities, describing both as part of the wider sports ecosystem.

He also credited EMTEK with improving match broadcasts and said higher ratings offered one indicator of growth in the football industry. At the same time, he called for further improvements in broadcast quality and said the country’s large football fan base required stakeholders to share a common vision. “The league must be clean, while continuing to improve what is known as the quality of referees,” Thohir said.

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The league must be clean, while continuing to improve what is known as the quality of referees.