Banned referees cry foul at charges
JAKARTA (JP): A group of soccer referees, banned from officiating after an alleged match-fixing scam, decried yesterday what they termed unfair treatment by the All-Indonesia Football Federation (PSSI).
Helmi Piliang, Khalik Jiro, Chairul Agil and Pracoyo, representatives of a total of eight referees recently suspended for between seven years and 10 years, met with Adang Ruchiatna, the head of the fact-finding team assigned to investigate the reported collusion in the Indonesian League from 1994 to 1997.
The meeting was held behind closed doors at the federation's headquarters at the Senayan sports complex in Central Jakarta.
But the referees emerged from more than four hours of talks declaring they had no confidence in the federation's commitment to cleanse the sport of dirty practices.
"We recognize that PSSI is the only governing body of national soccer. But they can't just arbitrarily impose the punishment on us," Pracoyo, one of the banned referees, said after the meeting.
"We're not only talking about the fate of eight or nine referees, but their families."
The internationally accredited referee had just returned from Singapore where he was scheduled to officiate at Tiger Cup qualifying matches underway until Saturday. Tournament organizers dropped him from his scheduled games at PSSI's request.
Pracoyo, banned for 10 years, questioned the soccer body's crackdown on referees, claiming that many parties were involved in the match-fixing and bribery in the sport.
"We've disclosed everything to the team, but why don't they take the same measures against club owners and managers?" said Khalik Jiro, who was suspended for seven years.
Although he admitted to receiving money from Denpasar-based Gelora Dewata, Arema from Malang, East Java and Jayapura, Irian Jaya-based Persipura last year, Khalid said the gifts were tokens of thanks.
"The money was not given to me before the matches, so it had nothing to do with the outcome of the matches," he said.
Chairul, also banned for 10 years, said he was curious why the fact-finding team had only targeted him and the other seven referees.
"I know that one or two people in that small team must have their own interests in mind, and are afraid if their dishonesty is unveiled," he said. He declined to elaborate.
The city police announced Monday that referees Nasruddin, Khalik, Helmi and Sasmuryadi and a soccer club official, Dadang S, were named as suspects in the match-fixing. They joined senior referee Djafar Umar, previously banned for 20 years by the soccer body. The six will be tried under the 1980 Bribery Law.
Pracoyo said he and the other referees were ready for further police questioning. "If necessary, we will hire lawyers to accompany us."
Khalik said: "We were cornered in earlier questioning. The police bombarded us with a flurry of questions without giving us enough chance to explain." (emf)