President Joko Widodo or Jokowi officially inaugurated the Papuan Football Academy (PFA) at the Lukas Enembe Main Stadium, Jayapura Regency, Papua, Wednesday (31/8/2022) morning.
President Jokowi said that the formation of the PFA was his request to PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) as the responsibility of the multinational company to participate in developing human resources (HR) in Papua.
“Last November, after the opening of PON, I invited the President Director of PTFI to come to the hotel,” said President Jokowi.
“At that time I conveyed PTFI’s commitment to human resource development in Papua and I asked for a football academy to be built and today there is PFA,” said President Jokowi.
From various considerations and historical aspects, soccer is the choice because Papua is known as a region that can always produce talented players for Indonesia.
Among the great players who came from the land of Papua include Rully Nere, Aples Tecuari, Elie Eboy, to Boaz Solossa.
President Jokowi targets that there are 30 Papuan children who will enter the PFA for three years, the President hopes that there will be names of new footballers who can strengthen the Indonesian national team.
“The land of Papua has given birth to talented talents. These 30 children are the seeds of talented talent. They will also have formal schools prepared so that they will not only have strong characters, but are also smart,” said President Jokowi.
