Indonesia to launch junior soccer league

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, hungry for international soccer glory, announced yesterday that a new-style national youth league would kick off nationwide on Nov. 2.

The All-Indonesia Football Association's head of youth affairs, Sinyo Aliandu, told a press conference that 81 clubs would join the under-18 league, which would be divided into eight to 10 regions according to the clubs' locations.

"The development of junior players urgently needs improving. We have run poorly organized junior competitions for years," Aliandu, a former national coach, said.

The Suratin Cup used to be the national soccer competition for junior teams. It featured provincial junior teams which played according to a tournament format.

The now-defunct Suratin Cup followed the Haornas/Coke Cup under-15 championships which features 27 provincial teams.

Aliandu said 33 under-18 teams would join the professional league's premier division and their under-21 counterparts from the first division would merge with provincial teams in the first season of the new youth league.

A total of 61 teams have so far confirmed they will participate. "The other 20 clubs will follow soon," said Aliandu.

Asked how long the league would run, Aliandu said: "We are completing fixtures and area divisions for the new league. It takes a long time because we are dealing with a huge number of teams."

Under the new format, junior clubs will face tougher competition. Each of them will play at least 20 group round-robin matches at home and away, compared to just eight matches in the Suratin Cup.

Aliandu said the home and away system may be unsuitable for Irian Jaya and Maluku clubs because of transportation problems.

"The main objective of the junior league is to catch plenty of young footballers who are ready and fit to fill the shoes of their seniors," said Aliandu.

Indonesia last won an international soccer competition in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games. It has qualified for the Asian Cup finals in the United Arab Emirates in December and is rated an underdog. (amd)