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)