Erick Thohir Denies JIS Renovations Spend Rp. 5 Trillion

– PSSI general chairman, Erick Thohir, denied reports that the planned renovation of the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) would cost Rp 5 trillion.

“There is no renovation (JIS) worth IDR 5 trillion,” said Erick while witnessing the construction of the Sanur Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Denpasar, Bali, Thursday (6/7/2023).

Although he did not specifically mention the budget for JIS’s renovation plan, he explained that the total budget for renovating 22 stadiums in Indonesia reached IDR 1.9 trillion. He said the renovation of the 22 stadiums was to meet FIFA standards.

The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises also regretted that the information was incorrect or Hoax that appear on social networks.

“There are many scammers, now social media. JIS Stadium was built for Rp. 5 trillion or Rp. 4.5 trillion, renovated for Rp. 5 trillion to find a “project”. Grass alone costs Rp 6 billion,” he said.

As is well known, JIS was built with a total budget of Rp. 4.5 trillion, sourced from the central government in the amount of Rp. 3.6 trillion and Rp. 900 billion from the DKI provincial government.

Erick along with several other government officials visited JIS on Tuesday (4/7/2023) which will be proposed as one of the host cities for the U-17 World Cup. He said PSSI plans to offer up to six to eight stadiums for the U-17 World Cup to FIFA.

However, he did not provide the name of the proposed stadium as he had to agree with FIFA first.

“FIFA will look into it,” he said.

He revealed, apart from territorial issues, the JIS cage plan would be implemented mainly related to spectator parking restrictions.

Located in Sunter, North Jakarta, this stadium can accommodate 82,000 spectators and has parking for around 1,300 vehicles. Erick estimates that the main entrance and exit for spectators has been fenced off, so there must be a security check.

Watch live streaming of BTV programs here