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Rahmad Confirms PSSI Policies Led To His Resignation
Ami Afriatni | December 15, 2011

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If there were any doubts, Rahmad Darmawan acknowledged on Thursday that the ongoing rift within Indonesian football was the main reason behind his decision to resign as coach of the under-23 national team.

Meeting the press for the first time since announcing his resignation on Monday, the coach said he was devastated by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) decision to ban players from the breakaway Indonesian Super League from the national team.

“PSSI chairman [Djohar Arifin Husin] had told me that I had full authority to call up players from any league, but then he said otherwise,” the 44-year-old coach said. “He told me before the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games that every Indonesian citizen had the right to play for the national team, if capable.”

Djohar said on Friday that players from clubs in the ISL would not be eligible to play for the national team. The PSSI had earlier introduced the Indonesian Premier League as the official top-flight competition.

After the U-23 squad lost to Malaysia in the final of November’s SEA Games, failing to end a 20-year gold medal drought, Rahmad said he was thinking of stepping down. But he backtracked after an outpouring of support from fans.

“It’s normal for a coach to think about quitting if he fails to reach his target. The target for me was leading the team to gold,” Rahmad said on Thursday. “However, [after the loss] everyone was so encouraging to me and the team, so I decided to stay on as coach.”

He said the situation started to change when he was asked to coach an Indonesian selection team in an exhibition against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Nov. 30.

“Someone told me that I couldn’t pick players from the ISL. I was ready to quit when I heard that but then the PSSI chairman texted me and said that I could chose anyone from the IPL and the ISL,” he said.

After that, Rahmad said, the situation deteriorated to the point that he no longer felt comfortable with the national team.

“So when the PSSI announced [that it was banning ISL players from the national team], I made my decision,” he said.

Rahmad is one of the country’s most successful club coaches, having led Persipura Jayapura and Sriwijaya FC to top-flight titles in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

National team coordinator Bob Hippy said the new U-23 coach would be announced in two weeks.

“Rahmad’s resignation is not the end of the world. We’ll continue without him,” he said.

Bob also said that Rahmad’s former assistants on the U-23 squad — Aji Santoso and Widodo C. Putro — would be strong candidates for the head coaching job.