AFC official warns of haze and bribery

JAKARTA (JP): Bribery and the haze threat were the two main concerns at the 19th SEA Games soccer technical meeting.

Secretary-general of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Dato Peter Velappen said that the haze, which has shrouded some of Indonesian islands for the last three months, should be watched.

"The organizing committee should monitor the air pollution index and warn the participating teams immediately if the haze reaches an unhealthy level," he said.

He also warned about bribery, saying that players should uphold moral values.

"The AFC and the Indonesian Soccer Association are not the FBI nor the police. Although we've been fighting bribery for the last ten years it still exists," he said adding that a key figure in any bribe deal would be a player.

"The player should never take the offer," he added.

Soccer starts today at 4 p.m. The first two matches are Indonesia against Laos at Senayan main stadium and Thailand against Myanmar at Lebak Bulus stadium.

At 6:15 p.m. Brunei Darussalam will play Cambodia in Lebak Bulus and Vietnam will play against Malaysia in Senayan.

Ten countries will participate in the soccer events. The Games organizers have divided the countries into two groups.

Group A consists of Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Singapore. Group B consists of Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The round-robin matches will be held from today until Oct. 14 and the final match will be on Oct. 18 at Senayan main stadium.

Laos' team manager, Sophou Phongsa, said yesterday that his team was only aiming for a draw against host Indonesia.

"We will try to do our best," he said, adding that Laos would also try to reach the quarterfinals.

But Phongsa declined to name his team line-up, adding that two of his players were injured.

The 19th SEA Games will also hold a women's soccer competition. Six countries will participate. They are Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Separately, the 19th SEA Games organizers' ceremony deputy Putera Astaman said that the opening ceremony budget had had to be cut to Rp 4.8 billion (US$1.3 million) from an earlier figure of Rp 6.8 billion.

"The budget reduction will not dampen the brightness of the ceremony," Putera said during the opening ceremony rehearsal at Senayan Main Stadium.

He did not give further details about which occasions were affected by the reduction.

The reduction followed an instruction by President Soeharto last month on budget efficiency for the biennial event.

About 13,000 participants -- students, athletes, artists and armed forces officers will take part in the opening ceremony on Oct. 11.

The ceremony will present traditional and modern dances, music, songs, a drum band, skydiving and other attractions.

The organizers have decided to retain the Rp 1.5 billion budget for the closing ceremony. (08/10)