Indonesian U-17 national team coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto admitted he was saddened to see the rioting incident at the Elite Pro Academy U-20 (EPA U-20) during the match between Dewa United Banten FC and Bhayangkara Presisi Lampung FC U-20 at Citarum Stadium, Semarang, Sunday (19/4).
In this match, chaos occurred at the end of the match, one of which was marked by a kung fu kick by Bhayangkara player and Indonesian U-20 national team player Fadly Alberto Hengga to Dewa United player Rakha Nurkholis.
"Yes, of course, seeing what happened yesterday was quite sad. Regardless of whether he was a national team player or not, this shouldn't happen in the junior group," Kurniawan said when met by media crews during the Indonesian U-17 national team's training session at Field A Gelora Bung Karno Stadium
Kurniawan deeply regretted that such an incident could occur. "Because their careers are still long. And these things undermine fair play ," he said.
This highly publicized incident ultimately ended peacefully after both parties reached a mediation agreement on Wednesday (April 22). During this mediation, Bhayangkara FC visited Dewa United's headquarters.
With the peaceful ending, plans to take this matter to court ended, with Dewa United Academy Director Firman Utina ensuring that this would not happen.
Meanwhile, revealing how Kurniawan ensures this doesn't happen, especially to his own players in the U-17 national team, he said that his team implements strict rules regarding attitude.
"We always remind the players, and we always implement fairly strict rules regarding discipline, attitude , and most importantly, etiquette. We emphasize that to our players, especially regarding how they respect each other, officials, and those around them," Kurniawan said.
