Indonesia to launch junior soccer league
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)