PIKIRAN RAKYAT - The Extraordinary Congress of PSSI (Indonesian Football Association) elected its chairman and vice chairman on 16 February 2023.
Two active members of the executive cabinet under President Joko Widodo's administration were elected, Erick Thohir currently acting as State-Owned and Enterprise (BUMN) Minister elected as chairman, and Zainudin Amali currently acting as Youth and Sports Minister elected as vice-chairman.
Erick Thohir was elected chairman of PSSI after winning 64 votes, while Zainudin Amali was elected vice chairman of PSSI after collecting 66 votes. The two Jokowi's men are officially in charge of the highest governing body of association football in Indonesia.
Erick Thohir who was also a former President of Inter Milan competed with four other candidates. Only La Nyalla Mattalutti, former PSSI chairman, got votes close to Erick Thohir while the other candidates secured none.
Baca Juga: Former Inter Milan President Erick Thohir Appointed as Chairman of PSSIIn the subsequent voting, Zainudin Amali was competing with two other PSSI former officials, Yunus Nusi, a former first secretary-general, and Ratu Tisha, a second secretary-general.
The minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali, got 66 votes and was thus elected vice chairman, while Yunus Nusi gained 41 votes to secure his current office as secretary-general of PSSI.
Before Erick Thohir rose to power as Minister of BUMN, he ran President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's 2019 re-election campaign. He was then appointed as Minister of BUMN and as Indonesian Olympic Committee Chief for Olympic Games.
On other hand, Zainudin Amali was a member of Golkar, the second-largest supporting political party in Jokowi’s political coalition in 2019. He replaced the former minister Imam Nahrawi who was arrested in a corruption scandal in 2019.***