Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has given his blessing to State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir to join the race for the chairman of the Indonesian Football Association, or PSSI, a close aide of the president said on Monday.

Erick, who once bought Italian top-flight football team Inter Milan, submitted his nomination for the PSSI chairmanship on Sunday.

"Mr. Erick certainly has asked permission from the president before joining the election. It’s impossible for him to run without the president’s permit,” Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told reporters.

Erick’s bid for the top post of the national football confederation is backed by young and famous figures in the sport, including TV personality Raffi Ahmad and the president’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep – both own a professional football team.

If elected, Erick can retain his post in the cabinet. Ministers can lead a sports organization except for the National Olympic Committee and its affiliates. 

For example, Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is the current chairman of the Indonesian Athletics Confederation.

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Erick is a big name in international and national football – in 2015 he organized the President’s Cup to keep the competition rolling at a time when the PSSI was frozen by the world football governing body FIFA due to internal conflicts.

He is also credited for the successful 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang of which he was the chairman of the organizing committee.

But his bright CV in sports won’t necessarily assure an easy path for the PSSI top post. Erick will be competing against top politician La Nyalla Mattalitti – a former PSSI chairman and current speaker of the Regional Legislative Council (DPD).

“It’s going to be a tough choice. Both men are equally qualified and good,” said Yoyok Sukawi, the CEO of Semarang-based PSIS football club.

The election, which collects votes from executives of around 50 registered football clubs and of all PSSI’s provincial chapters, will be held on February 16.

When visiting the PSSI headquarters in Jakarta on Sunday, Erick said his chairmanship bid is motivated by the determination to make Indonesian football “honorable and victorious”.

“We need to overhaul for the better future of Indonesian football and to rid it of dirty hands,” Erick said without going into details.

His remarks came days after the national team extended the losing streak at the regional competition ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup, which has eluded Indonesia since the biennial competition began in 1996.

Besides Erick and La Nyalla, former PSSI secretary-general Ratu Tisha Destria also has submitted her own nomination for the PSSI election.