Agum pledges uninterrupted soccer league
Agum pledges uninterrupted soccer league
JAKARTA (JP): Newly appointed All Indonesia Soccer Federation
(PSSI) chief Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar guaranteed on Saturday that
the upcoming league would run as planned.
In his statement read by the federation's deputy chairman in
charge of organizational affairs, Eddi Elison, Agum said he found
no legitimate reason to stop the league despite the mounting
economic and political concerns.
"The show must go on no matter what. If we have to wait until
the country's economic and political situation returns to normal,
we will never stage the league," Agum said as quoted by Antara.
"A premature end to the league will only disrupt all the plans
we have already arranged, particularly our preparations for three
international competitions next year."
Eddi read Agum's speech while opening a congress held by
PSSI's West Nusa Tenggara branch in Mataram.
The national soccer team's international duties next year
include the Asia Oceania Olympics qualifying round, the Asian
Championship and the Southeast Asian Games in Brunei.
"Building a strong team for those events is impossible without
good planning. That's why we're out to keep the league going
until it finishes," said Agum, who is also governor of the
National Resilience Institute.
Indonesia is serving an indefinite suspension imposed by the
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) following a bizarre match it
played with Thailand in the Tiger Cup early last month. The AFC
will decide the fates of both Indonesia and Thailand after
completing its investigation into the case later this month.
The Indonesian league kicks off on Nov. 1, with 10 matches
played simultaneously across the country. A total of 28 clubs are
in the league, the fifth season since the reintroduction of
foreign players.
PSSI terminated the league during the course of a season last
May due to security concerns and the massive economic turbulence
that forced several clubs to disband.
The soccer body has struck a sponsorship deal with Hong Kong-
based promoter Starpoint, but still has to provide each club with
a Rp 100 million subsidy. (amd)