Hockey chapters take split decision

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Representatives from 13 provincial chapters of the Indonesian Hockey Association (PHSI) announced on Wednesday they would break away to form a new organization due to the reappointment of Rajkumar Singh as its chief in December.

Spokesman for the provinces Erizal Azhar said they had appointed Rizki Habibie of Gorontalo as the lone supervisor to formulate a new structure of the association in one month.

The provinces are Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Banten, North Sumatra, Riau, East Kalimantan, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Papua.

"We held a meeting on Monday here and agreed to reject Rajkumar as the new chairman of PHSI, change our regulations and procedures, and appoint Rizki to form the new structure of PHSI," Erizal, who is also secretary-general of the Jakarta chapter, told a press conference.

Representatives from East Kalimantan, Gorontalo and South Sulawesi also attended the conference.

On Dec. 30, 2004, Rajkumar, who served as the association's chief from 1980-1999, was elected once again to head PHSI in an extraordinary meeting held in Medan, replacing Primadi Tabrani.

Erizal argued that Rajkumar committed many mistakes in the past, including arbitrarily changing the group's regulations and procedures, as well as dismissing several regional chapters -- Jakarta, Yogyakarta and South Sulawesi -- from the organization.

"We only saw the decline of PHSI under his (Rajkumar) leadership," he said.

"Therefore, we do not recognize PHSI, including its regional chapters, and will form a new PHSI structure."

He hoped that after new officials were selected, the group would soon hold the national championship in East Kalimantan.

Chairman of the South Sulawesi chapter of PHSI Zulkarnaen Chaeruddin said Rizki, who is a nephew of former president B.J. Habibie, was committed to improving the organization.

"He is a businessman and he expressed his intention to make hockey more popular across the country," he said.

Several chapters, including West Sumatra, Lampung and Aceh, are believed to remain in Rajkumar's camp.