VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated he has yet to receive the resignation letter from the Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali following the minister's election as deputy chairperson of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

"Officially not yet, nor written, but he has (conveyed the intention to resign) informally," Jokowi stated during his visit to the Ciliwung River normalization project here, Tuesday.

Amali was elected as the PSSI co-deputy chairperson, along with Ratu Tisha Destria at the PSSI Extraordinary Congress on Thursday (February 16). At the same congress, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir was elected as PSSI chairperson.

The president stated that as Amali is yet to officially resign from his position, he had not considered the name of a new minister to replace Amali.

"I will speak later about the (minister's) replacement after (Amali) officially (resigned)," Jokowi stated.

On Monday (January 20), Amali said that the president has allowed him, as PSSI deputy chairperson, to focus on managing the development of national football.

Clearing the air on whether his statement indicated that he would be stepping down as the youth and sports minister to focus on his new role, Amali steered clear of furnishing details.

Amali, instead, left it up to the journalists attending the press conference to interpret his statement and the current situation.

"So (once again), the president has allowed me to focus and concentrate on managing (national) football along with Mr Erick Thohir, Mrs Ratu Tisha, and Exco (the executive committee) of PSSI," he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung confirmed that Jokowi had given permission to Amali to serve as PSSI deputy chairperson.

He also urged journalists to decipher on their own the meaning of Amali's statement regarding his ministerial position.

"If that is what had been conveyed by Mr Zainudin Amali, the interpretation will be as what he conveyed. Just wait," Anung stated. (antaranews)