AS the euphoria of the Indonesian football team's performance in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup dies down, the attention has quickly turned to one man - Nurdin Halid.
On Wednesday night, even as the fans cheered for their teams, many others could also be heard chanting for this man to "turun" or step down.
They blame him for a number of things, from mishandling the ticket distribution in the lead-up to the AFF finals in Jakarta, to mismanaging the team and riding on their glory.
Indonesia won 2-1 against Malaysia in the second bout of the finals at Bung Karno stadium in Senayan but failed to lift the trophy as it needed a 4-0 win after losing 3-0 in the first match.
The overwhelming passion shown by the Indonesians for their team also translated into hatred for Nurdin when many began singing "Turun, turun, Nurdin turun! Step down, Step down, Nurdin, Step down!".
Anger at the president of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) had been building since he joined the PSSI in 2003. Soon after, he was convicted in two corruption scandals - one for misuse of palm oil distribution funds at the State Logistics Agency in 1998 and the other in 2005, when he was forced to run PSSI from behind bars. He has also been linked to at least two other corruption cases.
Mr Nurdin’s credibility was further eroded when international football body FIFA said that no one convicted of a crime and serving prison time can lead a recognised national soccer organisation.
Frustration spilled over to social media where his name became a trending topic on Thursday morning and on Facebook, where more than 56,600 members have signed a petition demanding his resignation frrom PSSI, tempointeraktif.com reported.
Said Mr Agus Rahmat, 28, a clothes supplier: "Nurdin has never really brought our football team to any big achievement and he involves politics in sports. He has been using the fame he gets from TimNas (Tim Nasional, or national team) to gain prestige and make him look good."
Sports commentators had also referred to how Mr Nurdin, who is also a former House of Representative member in Golkar party, allowed the football team to go for social functions such as breakfast at the house of Golkar party chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, just a week before the first leg of AFF finals. Local media reports quoted Mr Bakrie announcing bonuses for each of the players and a promise to provide 25 hectares of land for training use by the PSSI.
Sports analyst M Kusnaeni told detikcom: "As soon as the team appeared to be qualifying for the finals, it was asked to do unnecessary things. The footballers were lined up for the politicians to meet and greet them, and this was blatant exploitation (on the politicians' part)."
Many criticised outings such as this as unprofessional for mixing politics and sports. The blame for all these activities fell on Mr Nurdin for allowing the players to be used as political commodities.
Mr Bakrie's spokesman defended the offer of bonus and land, saying that the Bakrie family has always been a big supporter of football and have showed this support via donations to associations like PSSI, reported detik.com.
Aburizal’s brother, football fan Nirwan Dermawan Bakrie, is currently the deputy chairman of the association.
In the meantime, the man in the centre of the storm is aware of his unpopularity and said he will not cave in to demands.
Mr Nurdin told reporters: "I will never resign....asking me to step down has nothing to do with the loss."
In defiance, he said he is eyeing another five-year term as PSSI chairman.
However, others see 2011 as the year that things can change and Mr Nurdin will be removed – the PSSI congress is slated to be held by the end of this month.
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