KONI official irritated by soccer row

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Polemics raised by the media over whether the national soccer team is eligible for the Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea next year has angered a top official of the National Sports Council (KONI), who accused the media of indulging in its coverage of the issue.

"How many times do I have to answer the same question? The answer is clear, KONI has not changed its policy not to include a soccer team as part of the national contingent," Imron ZS, a KONI official assigned to supervise the training of athletes, said here on Friday.

"As far as I'm concerned, with my capacity as the training director, I have to base the decision on the already set criteria regarding the dispatch of the team to Pusan," he said.

The upcoming Asian Games will be held next September.

KONI tentatively plans to send athletes to 20 events in Pusan -- archery, badminton, beach volleyball, cycling, billiards, bodybuilding, boxing, canoeing, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, track and field events, weightlifting and wushu.

Soccer has been excluded from the list because the national team failed to reach the final at the recent SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

KONI has also set an alternative criteria that an athlete or sport seeking inclusion in the contingent must be in the top five of the Asian rankings, which the Indonesian national soccer team has apparently failed to fulfill.

"I think the media already know why soccer has been excluded. You can raise the issue based on your own reasoning.

"I'm tired and embarrassed with news headlines such as 'Imron refuses to take soccer team to Pusan'," he said.

"This is like confronting me with Pak Agum (Gumelar) personally," he added, referring to Minister of Transportation who also chairs the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

PSSI, in contrast to KONI, has insisted that a soccer team will be sent to Pusan to compete.

Speaking about the start of the training camp Imron said that KONI is awaiting four sporting federations to submit the names of their athletes for the Asian Games. They are the rowing federation (PODSI), karate (Forki), tae kwon do (TI) and shooting (Perbakin).