KICKING AGAINST THE WIND OF PUBLIC OPINION

               Indonesian politics scores an own goal

135 fans died here after a game

 

It’s the biggest story next door but barged offside by the Australian media for the Trump indictment and the Dutton ‘No’. There’s another factor: Soccer’s not Australia's national game.

 

But it is Indonesia’s, and the reaction to the loss of the Republic hosting the Under-20 World Cup because Israeli youth will play is showing the Great Age Divide - much like responses to the upcoming Voice referendum.

 

Almost 30 per cent of the Indonesian population is aged 10-24 - and they’re the core of soccer crazies. The ageing oligarchs who gained power last century under the authoritarian regime of President Soeharto (1967-98) may have misread the national mood.

 

When Muslim radicals threatened strife in the upcoming international contest because Israeli boots might trample Indonesian turf, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo said religion had no place in sport.

 

He then dashed Indonesia Football Association boss Erick Thohir off to Zurich to reassure Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino that no ugly incidents would harm the beautiful game.

 

The Swiss football administrator was unsurprisingly unpersuaded. As reported here, 135 fans died in a stampede last October at a match in East Java when police fired tear gas, ignoring FIFA’s strict crowd control rules.

Reaction to the stampede deaths in Malang

 

Less than two months before the scheduled 20 May kick-off, Infantino yanked Indonesia out of the World Cup.  Millions took to social media shouting Foul!

 

Jokowi heard as he’d kicked balls as a kampong kid, but caught a signal semaphored from the VIP Box so switched tactics, telling the outraged: ‘Don't waste your energy blaming one another. As a big nation, we have to look toward what's in front, not behind.’

 

What’s in front is global opprobrium and local fury - except among those who play the hard game of politics and see sport as a business. 

 

 In the 2019 presidential election, the two biggest Islamic-based parties together drew only 13 per cent of the vote. Commented Endy Bayuni, a former editor of The Jakarta Post: ‘Fear of Islamism is widely exaggerated.’ 

 

Their numbers are small but their voices are shrill and they have truck tyres and petrol. Party leaders feared being wedged by faith fanatics in the upcoming Presidential election also blew FIFA’s whistle.

 

 The anger at being denied the chance to watch the world’s best young players is widespread. In a country with more Muslims than any other, the fans want politics left outside mosques and stadia. 

 

Midfielder Robbie Gaspar, president of the WA Indonesia Institute lived and played soccer in Indonesia for seven years. He’s now promoting the power of sports diplomacy through Monash Uni. He told this column: 

 

‘Nothing brings Indonesia together as one like the National Football Team and when they play. 

 

‘This tournament could have been the catalyst to drive the game forward, inspire more young players and improve the standard … this (withdrawal) has the potential to set the game back by five years at least.’

 

Some background: In 2019 FIFA awarded Indonesia U-20 World Cup host status for the 24-team contest, knocking out Peru and Brazil. Winning this prize was big time and started a clean-up of six grounds costing Rp 322 billion (AUD 32 million) for a 2021 opening. Hotels and economists rejoiced, anticipating visitors from everywhere.

 

But Covid ran onto the field and sidelined plans for two years. At the time few gave Israel’s chances much thought. Indonesia only made the grade through a clause allowing the host nation to participate, meaning the upcoming generation could get among the game’s giants. 

 

In 2022 Israel, drawing its football talent from a population below ten million, suddenly trounced naysayers at the European Under-19 Championship. 

 

FIFA reported that ‘the team exceeded all expectations … Having come so close to being crowned European champions, can Israel now cause shock-waves on the world stage?’

 

Answer: Yes, though not through athletic abilities. When he heard that Israel’s brilliant teens were scheduled to play in Bali, Governor Wayan Koster stamped his foot: Anyone from the Biblical Holy Land would never make it to the Island of the Gods.

 

Bali is Indonesia’s only majority Hindu province, a religion not known for antisemitism, but the driver is parochial politics. 

 

Koster is a member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which includes Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo. He’s currently tipped as the nation’s next leader but waiting to be blessed by party matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri, 76.

 

Two days after the Bali snub Pranowo checked his WhatsApp messages from PDI-P HQ and announced he doesn’t want any Israelis punting leather in his province. Flapping banners appeared shouting ‘Israel is the enemy of Islam.’

 

That’s contestable, but heat generates slogans incinerating facts and rational debate. Twenty per cent of the population follows Islam. A Gallup survey in 2015 found 65 per cent of Israelis aren’t religious.

 

One of the few who challenged  the hate was the late fourth President Abdurrahman (Gus Dur) Wahid (1999-2001).

 

Although a revered Islamic scholar he was also a peace activist preferring diplomacy to bans. Unlike Widodo he stared down the fanatics, visiting Israel before and after his time in office.

 

This story is well seasoned with humbug. A year ago a delegation from Israel’s Knesset (parliament) visited Bali for official meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union without fuss. Koster was the host.

 

China allegedly persecutes the Uyghur Muslims living in the northwestern region of Xinjiang; like the Palestinians they want independence. China is the major investor in Indonesia and so far there have been few marching for the Uyghur.

 

Likewise, the reported mass killings of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Five years ago there were protests in Indonesia but the energy seems to have dissipated. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN which is led by Indonesia.

 

Kicking in all directions may seem smart politics, but it infuriates the young who want to pray and play. Voting isn’t compulsory so if Gen Z says a pox on all pollies the damage to democracy will aggravate the already serious injuries to Indonesian soccer.

First published in Pearls & Irritations, 13  April 2023:

https://johnmenadue.com/indonesian-politics-scores-an-own-goal/

 

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SOCCER BEATS FA CHATATHONS

 

 

Giving diplomacy a kick

 

Australians aren’t tops for geography, often promoting Bali to nationhood. Likewise, Indonesians shifting Perth to the East Coast. But they can locate Manchester, the gritty industrial centre in northwest England. Curiously that could enliven the equatorial archipelago’s yawning (both meanings} relations with its neighbour.

 ‘Manchester’ remains in our lexicon as household linen, but in Indonesia, it’s synonymous with soccer. 

In a country where it’s badly played but furiously followed, games in distant Europe can score front-page coverage, capping inflation, natural disasters and corruption scandals.

Indonesian shops sell overseas club paraphernalia stencilled with the logos of English Premier League teams. It’s wanted wear.

Connecting with that enthusiasm through ‘sports diplomacy’ could waken the she’ll-be-right relationship.  However the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade concentrate on the STDs – Security, Trade, and Defence. All important, but have no emotional impact on ordinary folk.

In Indonesia, there’s no separation of sport, state and politics. Soccer is a conduit to the top. President Joko Widodo’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep has bought Persis Solo with Erick Thohir, the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises. 

The US-educated Thohir, who is also into TV and print, used to hold a majority stake in Italy’s Inter Milan and shares in US outfits. Entrepreneur cum media tycoon Raffi Ahmad owns Rans Cilegon FC - E-Sports and a basketball team.

Despite this clout Indonesia is 159 in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) men’s world rankings - Australia is 42nd. The world game is dominated by Europeans and South Americans. 

‘Sports diplomacy’ sounds woke but it’s recognised by DFAT with a strategy of the same name - a 24-page document taking us to 2030. Indonesia gets just one mention; it seems the goal is to keep Pacific Islanders playing with Aussies and not signing up with Beijing.

While we’re looking east the Brits have invaded the Indonesian pitch. An international co-ed school has started running soccer classes with Manchester City.

The British School Jakarta has around 1300 students from 63 countries. Kids don’t get onto the sumptuous 14-hectare campus if their parents aren’t in the Croesus class.

The median salary in Indonesia is Rp 12 million (AUD 120) a month, but the stats don’t reveal a bell-shaped curve, more a near-flat line with a sharp spike at one end. The minimal monthly wage in Jakarta is almost Rp 4.5 million (AUD 416), but anecdotally many are paid less.

Oxfam Research shows the four richest men in Indonesia own as much wealth as the country’s poorest 100 million citizens.

BSJ’s term fees rise to Rp 124 million (AUD 11,500), plus Rp 5,750,000 (AUD 535) for 13 coaching sessions.  

While the golden kids are dashing across the school’s five full-sized football fields guided by coach Chris McCarthy who spent 12 years with MC, millions of barefoot hopefuls across 6,000 islands are kicking plastic balls on narrow potholed roads with thongs as goalposts.

It’s not known if BSJ is offering scholarships to the talented poor as it didn’t respond to queries, but there are other opportunities on offer. The Arsenal Foundation with the Save the Children Fund runs Coaching for Life ‘to improve the lives of children and in particular girls, in Jakarta.’

The Italians opened their Inter Academy with a permanent coach in 2018 in Bandung (West Java) – a deal involving Internazionale Milano. Other foreign clubs, including Manchester United, have run occasional schools.

 

Australian businessfolk trying to hit it off with their Indonesian counterparts should get a selfie with Robbie Gaspar and flash it during negotiations. Flicking through pics of Ambassador Penny Williams, Trade Minister Dan Tehan or Foreign Minister Marise Payne will excite no reaction, but Gaspar’s grin can help unclip pens from pockets.

Perth-born Gaspar was the first Australian to play professionally in Indonesia, and did so for almost eight years, including with the prestigious Persib Bandung.  He became a household name not just through his skill as a midfielder; he speaks Indonesian fluently and is at ease in a culture where personality counts for everything.

A few academics who understand the realities are starting to rethink the 17th century model of diplomacy – suave polyglots playing word games in private suites. Last month Monash University’s Herb Feith Indonesian Engagement Centre ran a forum on statecraft using the osmosis of raucous crowds at public events, with Gaspar as the drawcard and this preamble:

 ‘This immense passion for sport in Indonesia offers Australia a valuable platform to build long-lasting people-to-people links by breaking through cultural misunderstandings and leveraging our sporting interests, associated social values, and geographical location.’

Indonesian fans’ dedication hasn’t been matched by management. Disputes over who ran the game led to FIFA booting the national team out of the joint 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Gaspar reckons some club owners are frustrated footballers who see players as hobbyists undeserving of respect, proper pay, rests after long trips and good tucker. So he became an advisor to the players’ union, FIFPro Asia, further enhancing his appeal and offering a better image than the paunchy boozers in Kuta that Indonesians recognise. 

Since retiring Gaspar, 41, who has a post-grad degree in International Relations and is a director of the Indonesia Institute, lobbies for sports diplomacy to be treated seriously. He’s kicking into the wind. The last burst of enthusiasm from the Embassy was in 2008 when the Ambassador barracked at a game between WA and East Java.

At the time Bill Farmer said the right things – ‘playing sport together is a great opportunity to foster a spirit of friendship between our countries’, then returned to selling wheat and thwarting people smugglers, as though DFAT can’t juggle many balls at the same time.

Gaspar can and is tackling DFAT with ideas, including working with the Indonesian Women's National Team and the FIFA U20 World Cup. Indonesia will be hosting next year with games across Java and Bali: 

‘Here’s a great opportunity for us to work with Indonesia with coach education, sports science and e-sports. Setting up programs in leadership, health and wellbeing, stressing the importance of exercise, healthy eating and less screen time. Also, educating the parents, which I think is the most critical part.

‘Governments are fine with handshakes but little happens later. This has to change; we can make it change. Playing sport together is a great opportunity to foster a spirit of friendship between our countries.’

And here’s proof from a South China Morning Post report this January:

 ‘Australia women’s captain Sam Kerr was mobbed by excited Indonesian players despite them suffering an 18-0 demolition in their AFC Asian Cup group opener in Mumbai.’

The story included ‘a wholesome photo’ of winners and losers sharing joy of the game. Not a caption applied to ministers’ line-ups following a round of legacy diplomacy.

 

 First published in Pearls & Irritations, https://johnmenadue.com/giving-indonesian-diplomacy-a-kick-along/ 15 April 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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GASPAR'S GAME - OZ-RI 1 - 1

Soccer diplomacy                                      

If Indonesia and Australia are to ever play well together, they need a kick.  If not up the backside, then into the arena of international relationships.

Here’s a man for the job -  former soccer star Robbie Gaspar, 38, the first Australian to play professionally in Indonesia.   Although now retired his favorite word is “passion” for the game and getting young Indonesians involved.

Politicians advocate transnational trade while bureaucrats urge security to dampen distrust, but Gaspar offers a readymade solution:  Football fun.  He argues that soccer’s global appeal brings all levels together where they can revel in sharing the things which unite.

Soccer thrives in the Republic in quantity of raucous support, though not always quality of facilities and play. Indonesia is 160 in the men’s world rankings.  The game is currently dominated by European and South American nations.  Australia is 43^rd.

Gaspar’s concerns are not desultory.  Back in his hometown Perth this decade he joined other retired professionals in Pro Football Training, an enterprise to lift the game – and the health of those who play and watch.
A spin-off is the Soccer Super Heroes (SSH) for children which Gaspar wants to export to Indonesia. The company claims to be training more than 1,600 youngsters a week through school and club based programs.
Gaspar has been exhorting action by State and Federal governments, big business and sports administrators in both countries.  So far the handshakes have been warm but wallets have yet to be opened. 
His cheer-leaders are hoping the kick-off of an Indonesian version of SSH can coincide with next year’s 30^th anniversary of the Sister State relationship between East Java and Western Australia.
At the 25-year benchmark in 2015 WA gave one billion rupiah to support disabled kids.  Backers of Gaspar’s plan reckon far less is needed to get SSH going, starting in Surabaya.
The indoors program uses places like badminton and futsal courts. It’s designed to bring pre-schoolers into the game so they grow up enjoying sport and staying fit; parents are encouraged to get involved.

“We need to wean the next generation off their cellphones and get them outdoors,” Gaspar said. “Constantly stuck to a screen isn’t healthy.  Exercise and participation are important for physical and mental health.  So is self esteem and confidence. All this starts at home.”

Gaspar  runs the talk.  His family migrated from Croatia where soccer is king, so after getting honored as a teen champion in Perth, the midfielder joined a club in his parents’ homeland. 

Not a happy time as the former Yugoslav state was still torn from its war of independence.  So Gaspar headed to clubs in Brunei (QAF) and Malaysia (Sabah) before being recruited to play in Indonesia. 

Like most Australians he knew little of the country.  An early jolt: Although English might be understood in the boardrooms, it was alien in the changerooms.  So he rapidly learnt the language and is now fluent.

He also found the differences with his previous teams striking.

“Indonesians were disciplined,” he said. “In other places we’d have to drag players out of the carpark for training, but here they were already jogging on the grounds before the scheduled start time. Indonesia has more football potential than anywhere else in Asia.”

That was in 2005.  Gaspar stayed for seven years and at various times wore the colors of Persib Bandung, Persita Tangerang,  Persiba Balikpapan and Persema Malang.

Although he says it was a great experience working with fine athletes and performing before sellout crowds, it wasn’t always win-win.  But the faults were not with the players,

First the politics.  Disputes over who ran the game climaxed in  2014 after Kemenpora  (the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs)  and the football association couldn’t settle on who was running the game.
So the world governing body FIFA showed Indonesia the red card,
The suspension, which has since been lifted, ruled the national team out of the joint 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns, a mighty blow to fans, players and Gaspar. 

Next were business attitudes.

“Many club owners are frustrated footballers who think they know best,” Gaspar said.  “They reckon the players are hobbyists when in fact they are professionals land and should be treated with respect

“These are the top sportsmen from 260 million people.  They need to be appreciated, paid properly, rested after long trips and fed well.”

When Gaspar found his colleagues weren’t getting a fair deal he became an advisor to the players’ union, FIFPro Asia.  Now he’s working part time as Player Development Manager with the national Professional Footballers Australia organization.
Then there’s the pros’ dread – their 30 plus use-by date:  A new generation of nimble ball benders is invading the pitch.  Where to go when the knees creak and the final whistle blows?
“It’s another problem for Indonesian athletes,” said Gaspar who’s studying accountancy so his money stays in play when the muscles won’t.  “They need care when their career  is over.”
Like many Indonphiles he’s vexed by his fellow Ozzies’ indifference to their neighbor.  At first his disquiet is muted – “relationships could be better,” he says politely.  But when elbowed lets rip:
“Too many Australians are superior - they think they’re better than Indonesians. That’s partly the media’s fault because they frequently report on crises rather than explain more about the country.
“Governments are fine with handshakes all round, but little happens later.  This has to change; we can make it change.”
Gaspar’s  playing code runs into his life values: “Be humble, stay positive, work hard, never stop learning, keep fit, listen to your parents and enjoy your sport.”
Jingoists  paranoid about Western ideas corrupting their culture would find the list hard to contest.
“Indonesians and Australians have so much in common,” said Gaspar. “We both love our families and sport. Let’s build on the positives by playing together.”
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 First published in The Jakarta Post 13 August 2019