AFF to decide Mursyid's appeal

JAKARTA (JP): The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) will decide whether to uphold a lifetime ban on Indonesian soccer player Mursyid Effendi during an executive meeting in February in Kuala Lumpur.

An Asian Football Confederation (AFC) meeting in Beirut last month ruled to ban Mursyid for life from competition for intentionally scoring an own goal in a Tiger Cup match against Thailand in September.

The All Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI) secretary-general, Nugraha Besoes, said on Wednesday that the sentence was valid although AFC President Ahmad Syah and some representatives of Association of Southeast Asian Nations did not attend the Beirut meeting.

PSSI banned Mursyid from international duties for one year while team manager Andrie Amien and coach Rusdy Bahalwan were banned for two years each. (yan)