Bola.net – The bullying experienced by the Indonesian U-17 National Team players, following their failure to qualify from the group phase of the 2023 U-17 World Cup, continues and has an increasingly widespread impact. In fact, there were a number of Garuda Muda players who were greatly affected by the bullying.
“Until four to five days after the match against Morocco, there was still harassment towards the players. And I want to convey that there were our players who were affected. This is quite serious,” said Psychologist for the Indonesian U-17 National Team, Afif Kurniawan, in a release obtained Bola.net.
“We should work together. Media criticism has been very constructive. Coaches and administrators have accompanied and directed us well. However, on social media there are quite a few negative comments,” he continued.
Afif said that criticism is not prohibited. In fact, the ranks of coaches and players are open to criticism. However, this is different from negative comments. Moreover, his comments were in the form of insults and things that were beyond reason.
These comments, continued Afif, had a serious impact on the players’ mentality. Moreover, the Indonesian U-17 National Team players are still teenagers. Their emotions are still unstable.
“We are very open to criticism. Moreover, criticism with a clear basis. However, don’t make negative comments. And that’s what happens on social media,” continued the lecturer at Airlangga University, Surabaya.
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Failed to move on
According to Afif, the Indonesian U-17 players are actually ready to move on from their failures and move forward. However, this effort failed due to the large number of bullying and negative comments from netizens, especially on social media.
“Negative comments on social media are very disturbing. Even though the team has been disbanded since last Tuesday (21/11), we are still interacting and accompanying the affected players. We will assist them until they fully recover,” said Afif.
Because of this, Afif and the team of psychologists for the U-17 Indonesian National Team hope that the public will be wise in using social media.
“Don’t make negative comments. The Indonesian U-17 National Team players need direction to continue learning and developing. Because they can become the foundation of Indonesian football in the future,” emphasized Afif.
(Bola.net/Dendy Gandakusumah)
