Persib Bandung offered $25,000 to beat Milan

Persib Bandung offered $25,000 to beat Milan

JAKARTA (JP): A sum of US$25,000 is far from enormous in the
high-flying world of international soccer, but could represent a
priceless victory to the inter-city amateur champion Persib
Bandung.

This amount is on offer from the Italian champion AC Milan to
any squad which beats it during its summer tour.

The European champion and Serie A champion for three years
running will tackle Persib in exhibition soccer at Senayan
stadium on June 4. The match will be Milan's first stop on its
world challenge tour in Asia. Milan will move on to India, China
and Japan.

"The cash prize is offered as a guarantee that each Milan
friendly match will be a qualified one," said promoter Eddy
Sofyan yesterday. Eddy said the soccer giant, owned by Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will bring eight of the players
who powered the way to a 4-0 drubbing of Spanish champions
Barcelona in the Champions Cup in Athens last week.

Eddy, a well-known TV soccer commentator, confirmed that
additional players from other sides will join Milan. Udinese's
Uruguayan star Enzo Francescoli will be included in Milan's 51
person entourage. Some of the additional players have signed for
Milan in the next season.

Persib, which is currently undergoing rigorous training in
preparation for the match, will field the line-up that captured
last month's national championship, with former Indonesian
international Robby Darwis at the helm.

Eddy said the organizers have agreed to pay $265,000 as
Milan's appearance fee. The funds excluded transportation and
accommodation expenses for Fabio Capello's men. The Bandung side,
in marked contrast, will receive Rp 15 million ($7,000), only one
fifth as much it bagged when it won the championship last month.

Eddy said he will also provide extra funds to help Persib
train. He declined to mention the amount.

Low fee

Suparjo Poncowinoto, secretary general of the All Indonesia
Football Association (PSSI), said the match fee paid to the
national champions is lower than he expected.

"I don't know why Persib accepted the deal," he said. Suparjo,
however, refused to say that PSSI would recommend a higher price
for Persib. "It is a very rare occasion for Persib to tackle a
dream team," he said.

PSSI named Persib as Milan's opposing side as soon as Eddy
closed the deal with the Italian champions.

Eddy said Milan had proposed extending its Indonesian trip
with another friendly at Surabaya, East Java on June 6. The
Italian side is still waiting for a response.

"I will discuss this sudden proposal with Surabaya this
evening. Everything will be clear tomorrow," said Eddy. He said
he would need a guarantee from Governor Basofi Soedirman that the
match would run safely.

Eddy expressed pessimism about contesting a big match in the
capital of East Java, saying that the city has a stadium which
has only around 35,000 to 45,000, compared to Senayan's 100,000.

No less than 1,500 security officials, including 900 policemen
and 500 personnel from the National Army, will be deployed at the
June 4 match. PSSI will ban any street vendors from the stadium.

"The crowd will easily use plastic bottles of drinking water
to disrupt the match," Suparjo said.

Meanwhile, the Agence of France Press (AFP) reported that the
Professional Soccer Federation of Western Australia canceled
Milan's visit for a match against the Australian national side.

Chief executive Ian Holmes cited the reason as the track
record of soccer promotion in the area, notably the collapse of
an organization called Global Football which backed the recently
formed Perth Kangaroos side playing in the Singapore Premier
League. (amd)