PSSI abandons Bali plan over Tiger Cup
PSSI abandons Bali plan over Tiger Cup
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian soccer governing body (PSSI) has canceled the plan
to stage the qualifying matches of the upcoming Tiger Cup in Bali
due to the below-standard of the stadiums, a top PSSI official
said.
"In the wake of the Bali bombing, we had formerly planned to
shift the qualifying matches to Bali as a token of our moral
support to the local people. But with only one month in hand, it
would be impossible for us to make an overhaul effort on the
stadiums," Tri Goestoro, PSSI secretary-general, said after a
council meeting of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) here on
Sunday.
Tri said the 10,000 capacity Ngurah Rai and Kompyang Sujana
stadiums were still short of meeting the standard of holding an
international tournament.
"Seat capacity are limited, the changing room and the
floodlight system are below standard. We have planned to make an
upgrade, but it would be impossible to meet the deadline with us
having only a month," Tri said.
The 2002 Tiger Cup, the biennial soccer competition among the
Southeast Asian nations, will be co-hosted by Indonesia and
Singapore.
The qualifying matches will run from Nov. 15 through Nov. 23.
Semifinals stage is scheduled on Nov. 27 with the final on Nov.
29.
Jakarta will host teams from Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia
and Myanmar, while Singapore matches include Brunei Darussalam,
Laos, Malaysia and defending champion Thailand.
The Indonesian team, with 24 players, was scheduled to take on
the Singaporean team in Singapore on Sunday as part of the
preparation, according to Tri. There was no detail about the
result of the match.
"They (the players) will depart from Singapore to Sydney on
Tuesday where we plan to carry out friendly matches with four
local teams," he said.
Speaking about the AFF meeting, Tri said the ASEAN body had
decided to include Futsal and the under-14 category in addition
to the already existing U-18 and U-16 for next year's tournament
calendar.
Futsal will be hosted by Cambodia and the U-14 by Thailand.
Thailand will also host the U-16 with Laos, while Myanmar and
Vietnam have been appointed to play host to the U-18.