Exclusive: by Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 26 – The full extent of the alarming state of Indonesian football has been laid bare by the federation’s chief physiotherapist who claims he has not been paid for five months and has written to FIFA pleading with them to intervene.
Earlier this month, the FIFA-sanctioned All-Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) and the breakaway Indonesian Football Rescue Association (KPSI) struck an 11th hour agreement to merge, ending a long and bitter feud that could have resulted in the country being suspended from international competition.
A few days before the move, the international players union FIFPro issued a damning indictment of the dysfunctional nature of Indonesian football, citing poor management and a “horrifying number” of players who had still not received unpaid wages.
Few victims have prepared to come forward for fear of reprisals but Ibo says the time has come to expose the Indonesian authorities once and for all. “Like many other coaches, officials, players and staff, I have not received my salary, in my case since November,” Ibo said in a telephone interview from Jakarta.
“The recent extraordinary congress managed to resolve issues concerning the federation and the leagues but it failed to address the issues on salaries not being paid. It is almost like human slavery.”
Ibo, who has Swiss-Dutch nationality with an Indonesian father, said his contract with the PSSI runs out in August but that he had never thought of quitting. “They have breached almost every point in the contract. Every time I ask them they say they just don’t have the money. I’m not prepared to quit because that would be too easy for them. I’m lucky enough to have some savings but many others are not so lucky. The assistant coach of the national team hasn’t been paid since last May and many of the players are in the same boat. I’m staying to fight for my rights.”
InsideWorldFootball has seen a copy of the detailed letter Ibo sent to FIFA’s legal affairs department at the end of February urging them to help on his behalf having exhausted all avenues within the federation.
“Unfortunately, I am not the only victim,” the letter states, appearing to confirm FIFPro’s concerns. “Many coaches and players in Indonesia have not yet received their salary. It is vary (sic) between 3-8 months.”
FIFA is understood to have replied on March 1 in correspondence signed on behalf on its Players Status Committee suggesting Ibo draw up a legal case and contact the local Indonesia players’ union before they could intervene.
Ibo, who is in his second term in the job, told InsideWorldFootball he was not afraid to go public. “I have nothing to hide. The world needs to know what is going on. Simply saying they don’t have the money isn’t good enough. At one point they didn’t pay me from May 2011from November, 2012 and only did so when I refused to go to the AFF Suzuki Cup in Malaysia. Since then I have not been paid again but mine is only a small story compared to others. Fifa has to address this issue.”
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