…Mr. President really wants more of early-age coaching, especially in football.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo has said that he expects the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to coach young players at all levels, especially grassroots levels.

"In addition to achievements, I hope PSSI will also focus on (players) at the grassroots level as Mr. President really wants more of early-age coaching, especially in football," he informed at the inauguration of the PSSI board here on Friday.

He said he expects PSSI to improve its performance fivefold because it will participate in a number of international agendas, such as FIFA Match Day, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in Qatar.

"The ministry hopes that PSSI can work five times harder because this (agenda) is very close (datewise), and people are enthusiastically waiting for another Indonesian football victory," Ariotedjo added.

He praised some of PSSI's achievements, namely the recent gold win at the 2023 SEA Games and the cooperation established with the Japan Football Federation (JFA) on May 22, 2023.

"The cooperation with JFA is a very good step to raise our football to the world stage," he said.

The youngest minister in the Indonesia Onward cabinet also stressed that the ministry will keep supporting all sports that carry out transformation steps and defend the nation.

"The ministry, as the 'parent' of all sports, will support all sports that have transformational and visionary steps and are proud of the Red-and-White,” he remarked.

At the event, Chairperson of the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) Marciano Norman inaugurated the board of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) for the 2023–2027 period.

The PSSI board members who were inaugurated included chairperson Erick Thohir and vice chairpersons Zainuddin Amali and Ratu Tisha.

The PSSI executive committee for 2023–2027 consists of Eko Setiawan, Endri Erawan, Juni Rahman, Muhammad, Rudi Yulianto, Sumardji, Vivin Cahyani, Pieter Tanuri, Arya Mahendra, Khairul Anwar, Ahmad Riyadh, and Hasnuryadi.

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Translator: Fajar S, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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