Padang, W Sumatra, Dec 4 (Sumbar Antaranews) - Erick Thohir is believed to be capable of mending the problems faced by the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) owing to his experience in organizing the English, Italian, and United States leagues, an observer stated.
Manager of the Semen Padang Football Club Win Bernardino made the remarks here on Tuesday when contacted in connection with a case of alleged match fixing in the Indonesian league competition that the PSSI is currently embroiled in.
"Through his experience, we believe the problems in the national football arena can be overcome. Maybe, he did not directly enter the PSSI but rather becomes the federation advisor," he noted.
According to Bernardino, Thohir is not just some arbitrary personality in football. He is a person, who is passionate about football and has contributed significant time and material for the advancement of national football.
He bought majority shares of the Italian team Internazionale Milan and sat as president of the Milan City team. Under him, the team performed better than before and could appear promising.
"Although Erick is a very busy person, if possible, it would be better if he were to take part in fixing the issues faced by national soccer," he noted.
"Moreover, lately, the national football was shocked by alleged match-fixing and scoring, and the Semen Padang team was once a victim of that practice," he revealed.
In this case, he expressed hope that the PSSI would take serious steps to tackle this issue to gain clarity and ensure that similar incidents would no longer recur in national football.
Bernardino further stated that eliminating score settings and matches was no easy task as turning one`s palm.
However, the PSSI must have a clear program in place in an effort to stop the match-fixing practice to gain the public`s trust.
He suggested the PSSI to take a cue from the country that has been able to settle the scores setting.
Earlier, Secretary General of PSSI Ratu Tisha Destria asserted that her side had conducted an investigation over alleged match fixing in the Indonesian league competition.
The process was carried out by the PSSI Disciplinary Committee even before news on the case spread across the community, Destria noted at a discussion held by the PSSI reporters group on last Friday.
"Regarding this score setting, our target is to unearth the root cause (of the case). Hence, it is not about one or two individuals," she remarked.
According to Destria, her party currently already has data and facts regarding the case, which mainly come from PSSI`s partner, Genius Sports.
Genius Sports is a service provider to oversee the activities of the football gambling market across the world. Genius Sports observed soccer matches that were suspicious and allegedly arranged by certain parties.
Pertaining to Indonesia`s soccer match case, Genius Sports has been working with PSSI since 2017 and is active in all leagues, from the highest to the lowest.
