Fantastic Match Fee, The Reason Japan Canceled Facing Argentina on FIFA Matchday

Suara.com – PSSI’s success in bringing Argentina as the opponent of the Indonesian national team on FIFA matchday was able to shake up Asian football, Japan alone was reportedly unable to.

The certainty of Argentina as the opponent of the Indonesian national team on the FIFA Matchday was confirmed by PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir in a press conference on Thursday (25/5/2023).

The duel between the Indonesian national team and Argentina will be held on June 19 2023 at the Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Senayan, Jakarta.

One thing that is interesting about this official FIFA international trial match is the costs incurred by PSSI to bring in Argentina.

Read Also: The Indonesian National Team Enters Group K of the U-23 Asian Cup Qualification, Indra Sjafri is in the spotlight: Hockey Continues

As is well known, La Albiceleste is the winner of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, its status is not arbitrary and it is not a team to play around.

It takes great strength to be able to make Argentina accept the trial offer, even so Erick Thohir as the Chairman of PSSI is reluctant to reveal it.

Erick did not want to say the amount issued by PSSI to bring in Argentina, he only asked journalists to wait for the results of the upcoming audit.

No doubt the mystery regarding these costs is a hot topic of conversation, not only for the domestic public but also for the foreign public who want to know about it.

Thai media, for example, in a report uploaded on Thursday (25/5/2023), SiamSport tried to guess the costs incurred by PSSI for Argentina.

Read Also: Latest! Will the 2023 Asian Cup be Shin Tae Yong’s last tournament with the Indonesian national team?

Reflecting on the previous incidents experienced by Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun has discouraged inviting Argentina to the country on the FIFA Matchday June 2023.

The problem was clearly the cost, which the Japanese Football Association (JFA) thought was too high, so that plan was cancelled.

Japan objected to Argentina’s request, which demanded payment of up to 600 million Yen, or around 4.3 million US dollars or around IDR 64 billion.

The amount was double the amount spent by Japan when it imported Brazil last year, which was 300 million Yen.

Even so, Japan still chose countries from Latin America as opponents in this year’s FIFA Matchday, namely El Salvador and Peru.

Inevitably, Indonesia’s success in bringing in Argentina is still a byword that is widely discussed by various parties.

Foreign media flocked to try to guess how much PSSI spent on Argentina, including the New York Times.

Apart from that, it is not really important to guess how much the fee will be considering the certainty that the match will be held in Indonesia has already been confirmed.

Now the Indonesian football fans are just waiting for the appointed time and trying to ‘WAR’ tickets for the match between the Indonesian National Team and Argentina.

[Penulis: Eko Isdiyanto]