RI President Joko Widodo or Jokowi gave a touching message to the young players of the Indonesian U-20 national team. This was revealed after Indonesia failed to host the U-20 World Cup.
Jokowi asked the young players not to get discouraged because there are still many opportunities to compete in other international championships such as the SEA Games, Asian Games, AFF or the Olympics.
“Because the U-20s are still young, they still have a chance. Can play in the SEA Games, can play in the Asian Games, can play in the AFF, can still play in the 2024 Olympics, I think there is still a long way to go,” Jokowi said at a press conference after meeting with the U-20 national team players at GBK, Jakarta , Saturday.
Jokowi’s arrival to the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) area, Jakarta, this Saturday afternoon was to encourage the young Indonesian U-20 national team players after the International Football Federation (FIFA) revoked Indonesia’s status as host for the 2023 U-20 World Cup. The revocation of this status made Indonesia ineligible to appear at the U-20 World Cup because it failed to obtain a ticket via the regular qualifying route after being unable to reach the last four of the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup.
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“Today I am here at Gelora Bung Karno to give encouragement to the U-20 team, so that they don’t get carried away with disappointment and sadness,” Jokowi said.
Jokowi conveyed to the U-20 national team players that the government wants to have a national team that is built and nurtured from the start so that the team has good readiness and quality.
He stressed that there were still many opportunities for the U-20 national team players.
“I told them not to lose heart,” he said.
FIFA decided to remove Indonesia from host status for the 2023 U-20 World Cup on Wednesday (29/3) evening for reasons of “current conditions” in Indonesia.
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Before FIFA made this decision, there was a wave of rejection in the country from various parties, including a number of regional heads, against the Israeli national team’s arrival to compete in the 2023 U-20 World Cup.
President Jokowi has ordered Erick Thohir to re-negotiate with FIFA so that Indonesia will not be sanctioned after the revocation of host status for the 2023 U-20 World Cup.
Jokowi also asked Erick Thohir to immediately complete the blueprint for the transformation of national football and convey to FIFA his serious commitment to fixing national football.
“Continue to communicate with FIFA, both with the FIFA president and with the council so that we are not penalized by FIFA, and maybe in these months I hope that PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir will be able to fly again to Zurich to convey what I said earlier,” said Jokowi. (Between)
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