Persib to host Asian Cup quarters
Persib to host Asian Cup quarters
JAKARTA (JP): Persib Bandung has been chosen by the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC) to host the Champions Cup league
quarterfinals Group East at the end of the month.
Secretary-general of the All-Indonesia Football Federation
(PSSI) said on Tuesday that confederation representatives would
arrive today to discuss the site of the quarterfinal matches,
scheduled between Nov. 26 and 30.
"We, PSSI, AFC and Persib, will choose between Bandung or
Jakarta through careful consideration by this weekend," Soeparjo
said.
He added that the envoys would scrutinize both the Senayan
stadium and the Siliwangi stadium in Bandung, West Java before
naming the site.
Soeparjo said he aims to persuade Persib to choose Senayan.
The 32-year-old stadium has 110,000 seats, almost three times as
many as Siliwangi.
The East Group pits Indonesian champion Persib, South Korean
champion Ilhwa Chunma, Japan champion Verdy Kawasaki and Cup
holder Thai Farmers against one another. They will play round-
robin matches, with the two top teams advancing to the cross-over
semifinals against the two best teams from Group West.
Thai Farmers won its second successive title with a close 1-0
win over Al Arabi of Qatar last year.
Persib qualified for the final eight after beating Pasay City
of the Philippines with a 5-2 aggregate win. The Indonesians
upset Thai champion Bangkok Bank 2-1 in the first round.
Soeparjo said that the AFC would pay the host team US$50,000
in exchange for the TV rights.
"The aid is not enough, but we do not think that is serious.
After all, we will have home field advantage," Soeparjo
commented.
Meanwhile, in the Winners Cup, Indonesian Petrokimia Putra
will travel to Bellamre Hiratsuka in Japan for its quarterfinal
first leg match on Monday. The East Java team will host the
Japanese in Gresik on Nov. 28.
Petrokimia advanced to the quarterfinals on a goal ruling,
despite tying Rajpracha of Thailand 7-7. Petrokima lost 4-5 in
its away match, but won 3-2 at home. (amd)