Cheating players will not be punished: Tri
Cheating players will not be punished: Tri
JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI)
will not sanction players found to be giving incorrect
information about their ages when registering to compete in the
Bogasari U-15 league, PSSI secretary-general Tri Goestoro said on
Wednesday.
Their clubs will not be sanctioned either.
"The players have not played in the league, so we can't
sanction them. However, if we find any players who intentionally
falsified their ages, we'll sanction them immediately," he said.
Fourteen players were banned from competing in the league
after they failed their medical checkups. They also could not
produce their original birth certificates or diplomas to verify
their ages.
Tri quoted chapter 52 of the association's general rules under
which players proven to have falsified their ages are banned from
competing for two years.
The chapter also rules that officials involving in the
falsifying be suspended for three years. The club where the
player is based when the case emerges is immediately disqualified
from the tournament and is banned from competing in the next
season.
Tri said PSSI was continuing its investigation into the
matter.
"We want to know if the players do it on purpose or if it's
just a matter of carelessness."
Tri said many players had failed to produce original birth
certificates because their parents did not process them
immediately after they were born.
"Particularly in the villages, it may take years before the
parents register a birth. We call such a certificate (given upon
registration) a birth recognition by the state.
"That's why so many of them failed the medical test (in which
age was determined) even though their birth certificates
indicated they were under 15-years old," he said.
The Bogasari league was inaugurated last Sunday. Teams are
divided into four groups and the qualifying matches were held in
North Sumatra's capital of Medan, Surabaya, Bandung and
Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. (ivy)