AFC urges Agum to take helm at PSSI

AFC urges Agum to take helm at PSSI

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s secretary-general
Peter Velappan advised the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI)
to appoint KONI chairman Agum Gumelar to temporarily replace
Nurdin Halid as PSSI chairman.

KONI secretary-general Djohar Arifin said on Tuesday that
during a meeting last week Velappan had asked Agum to take the
chair left vacant by Nurdin since last June. However a PSSI
official said its rules required an election for a new chairman.

Nurdin was named as a suspect in a sugar smuggling case in
July and was later admitted to the hospital, allegedly on account
of ill health. Since then, the PSSI has been without a working
chairman.

"Peter Velappan has asked Agum to act as PSSI chairman
temporarily while Nurdin is unable to perform his duties as
chairman," Djohar said.

Djohar added that Velappan had stressed the urgency of someone
immediately taking charge of the association due to upcoming
major events in the PSSI's calendar, such as hosting the Asia Cup
in Jakarta in 2007.

"Velappan was worried that the absence of a chairman might
disrupt the PSSI's activities, including sending teams to
competitions abroad and hosting the Asia Cup," Djohar said.

Agum was asked to take over Nurdin's post as he had experience
serving as PSSI chairman. He was chairman from 1998 to 2003.
Currently, he is the PSSI's honorary chairman.

"I do want to help the PSSI and I am ready to do so. But only
if PSSI officials agree and if they all ask me to take over the
job," Agum said.

However, PSSI secretary-general Nugraha Besoes said that
replacing Nurdin with Agum would violate the organization's
rules.

"The honorary chairman cannot perform the work of the chairman
as both have very different responsibilities," Nugraha told The
Jakarta Post.

"Personally, I want Agum to help us out but we can't just go
ahead without having regard to the rules. A new chairman must be
elected by an extraordinary general meeting -- an acting chairman
is not provided for or recognized by the rules," Nugraha said.

He added that the PSSI had no plans to convene an
extraordinary general meeting in the near future as Nurdin was
officially still the PSSI chairman.

Nugraha said that the AFC should not worry about the PSSI's
performance as thus far the PSSI had never failed to meet its
obligations to send teams to scheduled overseas competitions,
such as the Asia Junior Cup in Kuala Lumpur this month.