AFC gives Persib quarterfinals

AFC gives Persib quarterfinals

BANDUNG (JP): Persib Bandung says it has the support of the Asian Football Confederation for its bid to host the Champions Cup quarterfinals.

An official of Bandung-based Persib, Dwi Koernianto, said yesterday that AFC Secretary-General Peter Velappan had confirmed AFC's willingness to allow Bandung to stage the Group East quarterfinals at the Siliwangi stadium.

"AFC only required us to improve facilities at the stadium," Koernianto said.

He said Velappan would send envoys to the West Java capital once again on Monday to re-inspect the facilities.

AFC named Persib last week the host of the Group East quarterfinals, scheduled from Nov. 26 to 30. But it selected Jakarta's Senayan stadium instead of the Siliwangi stadium as the venue for the robin matches, after hearing a report from its envoys.

The envoys, R.I. Indran and N.V. Mould, visited Bandung last week and did not recommended Bandung for hosting the competition because neither the turf on the playing field, nor the players' locker rooms in the 25,000-seat stadium met international standards.

Persib reacted by handing over the organization of the matches to the All-Indonesia Football Association.

"Mr. Velappan was surprised when he heard of our furious response," Koernianto said.

The upgrading project of the stadium, which is owned by the West Java military command, started yesterday. No less than 30 employees of the Bandung Public Works Office were seen reconstructing the stadium's drainage system. Other workers focused on mending the bald field.

Koernianto said that project will include the construction of two new locker rooms, a press center and a secretariat office which will be provided with telephones and facsimile machines.

"We believe we can complete the project on time," Koernianto said. He refused to disclose how much the project would cost Persib. (pet/amd)