- The 2024 FIFPRO General Assembly will be held on 26-28 November in Indonesia
- Indonesian player union President Andritany Ardhiyasa is looking forward to welcoming representatives of around 70 unions
- Ardhiyasa says the congress will help Indonesian players understand what FIFPRO is about
Indonesia will be the focal point of attention for FIFPRO and all its member unions, as the global player union holds the 2024 FIFPRO General Assembly in the Asian country on 26-28 November. Andritany Ardhiyasa, the President of Indonesian player union APPI, will act as host of the three-day congress.
"It will be a valuable experience for the players in our country that FIFPRO is coming to Indonesia," Ardhiyasa told FIFPRO. "It will help them understand what FIFPRO is about. We have often talked about FIFPRO and its support for players in our country. The General Assembly is an opportunity to actually see what that means and what FIFPRO is: a federation of almost 70 player unions working closely together to improve the well-being of all players in the world, including all members in our country."
Ardhiyasa expects to welcome various players during FIFPRO’s annual gathering. He will be one of them, as Ardhiyasa is the goalkeeper of Persija Jakarta. The 33-year old has also made 16 appearances for Indonesia. For more than three years he has been APPI President, after having served as vice-president for four years. Ardhiyasa first learned about APPI through his older brother Indra Kahfi, who is also a professional footballer. When he visited the union to discuss a case, he asked his little brother to accompany him. Since then, he has not looked back.
"It will be my first FIFPRO General Assembly, but I have been to three FIFPRO Asia/Oceania congresses," said Ardhiyasa. "These were good experiences for me, as I learned how FIFPRO goes to work. It raised my interest. I still have to focus on my playing career, but I am considering to learn much more about the work away from the pitch after I retire from playing football.
"Hopefully, the same will happen during the upcoming assembly when some of our local players will visit the meeting and will then share their experiences in the dressing room with their team-mates."
In recent years, APPI has made significant progress. "So much has changed since I played my first match as a professional goalkeeper in 2010," he said. "Players are now more aware of the importance of their contract. When I started, a lot of players didn’t even posses a copy of their contract. Now they do.
"Our relationship with the clubs, the league and the federation has improved significantly. Years ago, we were like a debt-collector, constantly knocking on their doors to raise awareness about non-payment. This issue has diminished (although it still exists) but they invite us to their meetings and for discussions. They listen to us now."
Ardhiyasa refers to an example of what happened this summer. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was planning to increase its foreign player quota in the two top divisions, to raise the quality of the league. APPI was not consulted in this proposal and quickly organised a questionnaire to survey the players’ opinion on the matter.
The players were against the increase, fearing it would decrease their opportunities to develop, harm the development of the national team, and disrupt clubs' financial sustainability. APPI launched a social media campaign and a public panel, with representatives of the FA, league, the union and some players. One day after this event, the PSSI announced its final decision, which included several crucial adjustments to guarantee the development of local players and financial sustainability.
"Our reasoning was that we have a huge population, almost 300 million people, and many of them are crazy about football and play the game. We should think about ways to improve the training of all those grassroots players instead of bringing in players who don’t have extra qualities and don’t advance our game," Ardhiyasa explained.
"We don’t mind clubs having a limited budget for bringing talented foreign players to our league, but we should avoid wasting our local talent. The campaign underlined that the solidarity amongst our players is strong and that the football federation is willing to listen to our voice."
Weathering the storm
APPI is about to celebrate its 15th anniversary, and resilience is a word that fits right into the history of the union. "We have survived many hurricanes," said Ardhiyasa. "Among other things, we have had to deal with another union that was established by the federation. We proved to be stronger and it disappeared. Then FIFA temporarily banned Indonesian football, Covid-19 happened and we witnessed the horrible stadium disaster in Kanjuruhan, where 135 spectators died. During the 15 years of our existence, no federation president has managed to finish their term, meaning we have had to start to build new relationships with the PSSI repeatedly."
"We survived all these storms and we think we've got better each year. This is a good message to all unions: you have to find a way to survive all the hurricanes that you face. If you manage to do that, then you will probably become a stronger organisation."
