APPI menghadiri Uni Apro Regional Conference 2015, dimana APPI menjadi perwakilan dari FIFPro Asia yang hadir disana. Uni Apro ialah divisi dari wilayah Asia Pasifik dari Uni Global Union yang merupakan Sarikat Tenaga Kerja Dunia terhadap pekerja-pekerja di bidang jasa. Uni Global Union memiliki satu divisi bernama Uni World Athletes yang mana FIFPro merupakan salah satu anggota di dalamnya. Uni World Athletes dipimpin oleh Brendan Schwab yang juga menjabat sebagai Vice President FIFPro dan Chairman FIFPro Asia.

Di sesi Uni World Athletes menyampaikan materi tentang peran Atlet dalam Good Governanance of Sports, APPI mendapat kesempatan menyampaikan pidato singkat selama 10 menit dalam conference yang dihadiri lebih dari 300 peserta tersebut. Hanya 3 negara yang mendapat kesempatan menyampaikan pidato singkat di sesi tersebut, diantaranya Asosiasi Baseball dari negara Jepang, Sepakbola Wanita di Australia, dan Asosiasi Pesepakbola dari Indonesia yaitu APPI.

Pidato tersebut disampaikan oleh Jannes H. Silitonga selaku Head Legal APPI yang menyampaikan permasalahan sepakbola yang ada di Indonesia, usaha-usaha yang telah APPI lakukan sampai akhirnya APPI telah diakui oleh Pemerintah dan PSSI. Berikut isi pidato APPI di conference tersebut:

“Good afternoon everyone,
We are from APPI ( Indonesian Profesional Footballers Association) affiliated by FIFPro the world players’ union, recognized by FIFA, the world governing body of the sport of football. We would like to express our gratitude to all delegations from Uni Apro and FIFPro Asia to invited us and setting the time and place for us.

For many years, footballers in Indonesia, as one of the important stakeholders have failed to get their salaries paid for months, yet they still have to do their obligations.

It seems unfair that footballers have to play without being paid. We have families that rely on our only career, but our clubs are far from even thinking about it. We have seen our colleagues got hurt, injured, fell sick, and they were unable to pay for the medical treatment. Some of our colleagues even died and their bodies were flown back to their hometowns. Those kinds of situations are the ones we wish to never experience.

Meanwhile, conflicts keep on swirling in board of administrators, such as federation dualism, league operator dualism, even national team dualism. conflict between chairman of federation, league operator, and conflict between PSSI (Indonesia football association) and government.

Who is most suffered from this situation? Of course, us as professionals that rely our lives on this, our one and only career.

We are an independent association, especially in this kind of situation. We protect, educate, and create solidarity between players. and we are open to work together with any parties including PSSI and government to build Indonesian footballers better, transparent, and will eventually result in achievements in South-East Asia like the SEA Games champion we became in 1991. From what we know, PSSI does not want to cooperate with us, because we always gave suggestion to PSSI but their assumption that we are opposition with them. Moreover, PSSI established another association that was not recognised by FIFPro and players themselves.

Due to that kind of situation, we need to start building relationship with other institutions that may support us and protect the rights of footballers in making the clubs pay the players’ rights.

The idea of government to freeze PSSI and the suspension of FIFA to Indonesia has nothing to do with us.

The situation is getting worse right now. players only play for short tournament, which makes approximately thousands of players or the future players can not fulfil their families need and dream to play in international level because of this condition.

We fully support and we are really grateful for what FIFA is doing and conduct a meeting with PSSI government and stakeholders including us. we believe that FIFA will help us find a solution to get out of this situation.

APPI will support whatever actions in favour of a better Indonesian football and to protect the rights of footballers.
Now, we got recognition by Government ( Sports Minister and President of Republic of Indonesia). Eventhough still reviewing the most appropriate legal product on the recognition.

And also we got recognition from PSSI as the only PFA in Indonesia after PSSI met with FIFA. Because FIFA know, APPI as the only one PFA in Indonesia.

We can do that because we have the strong team. Our committee is the Indonesian top players and ex Indonesia national team captain, they are the footballers want to do something and care for Indonesia footballers.

We stay consisten not only support from our member and committee but also from another footballers, like FIFPro and FIFPro Asia. And then we got chance to meet with another union now.

If now we got recognition from Government and PSSI, it doesn’t mean our work has finished. It will be start to make better footballers rights, especially the country like Indonesia.

Vince Lombardi said “We believe that people who work together will win, whether it is against complex football defensive or the problem of modern society”.

Let’s work together for a better Indonesian football.
APPI”

Acara ini merupakan acara rutin empat tahunan dari Uni Apro yang bertujuan untuk melindungi hak-hak pekerja di sektor jasa di wilayah Asia Pasifik dimana dalam setiap sektor memiliki masalah dan hambatan nya masing-masing, yang mana atlet masuk dalam pengertian pekerja sektor jasa tersebut. Conference dilaksanakan dua hari yaitu pada tanggal 7-8 Desember 2015 dan di hari ketiga pada tanggal 9 Desember 2015 diadakan Forum kecil dari FIFPro Asia – Uni World Athletes – dan Uni Apro. Forum ini menghasilkan tiga point kesepakatan diantaranya; mengorganisir antara tiga lembaga tersebut untuk melindungi hak-hak atlet di wilayah Asia Pasifik, membuat publikasi yang terstruktur untuk perlindungan para atlet, dan terakhir membuat regulasi hukum akan adanya kepastian hukum bagi permasalahan atlet sepakbola di negara Korea Selatan dan Indonesia.

Ke depan, akan segera dibuat regulasi hukum terhadap atlet sepakbola di Indonesia yang memiliki korelasi dengan ketenagakerjaan baik mencakup aturan hukum nasional maupun hukum internasional, karena Uni Apro merupakan Sarikat Pekerja Dunia yang memiliki hubungan kerjasama dengan Kementerian Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi Republik Indonesia dan ILO di PBB.