PSSI executives to be questioned
JAKARTA (JP): Police have announced that they will question executives of the All-Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI) concerning suspected match-fixing practices allegedly arranged by senior referee Djafar Umar.
City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday police would question Djafar as soon as the other witnesses had been questioned.
"Please notice that we have not named Djafar, or any other people, as a suspect in this case," Aritonang said.
"But our preliminary investigation found that there is an indication of bribery involving certain people," he said.
Aritonang said that even though the federation concluded that the referee was guilty of collusion to predetermine the outcome of certain matches, police would not name Djafar a suspect unless they collected enough evidence to charge him.
He said Djafar allegedly fixed soccer matches, especially during last year's Indonesian League season.
"Such a scheme may include bribery involving other referees, management of local soccer clubs or any other party involved in the arrangement of matches," said Aritonang.
The senior referee is believed to have offered soccer clubs help to win matches in exchange for bribes. Djafar would then choose referees involved in his scheme to supervise and fix the outcome of the match.
The federation has banned Djafar from refereeing for 20 years and has asked the police to investigate the case.
Aritonang said those involved in the collusion would all be punished.
"All proven to have been involved in the scheme will be charged under the 1980 anti-bribery law," he said.
The law carries a maximum of five years in jail and a Rp 15 million fine for any party found guilty of giving a bribe. The party receiving a bribe is subject to a maximum of three years in jail and a Rp 15 million fine.
Aritonang, however, refused to disclose any other names connected with the case besides Djafar.
"Several of the people we have questioned as witnesses could later be considered suspects if enough evidence is collected against them," he said.
He said his office had so far questioned 10 witnesses. They have been identified as Amran YS, Edi Ellison, Hairul Agil, Pracoyo, Sukring, Nasarudin, Endang Subarna, Khalik Jito, Yoseph Laisina and Sas Mulyadi.
Laisina, an executive of the West Java Persib soccer club, and Mulyadi, a referee, were questioned yesterday.
On Monday, police questioned Nasarudin, a referee, and Subarna, an executive of Persikab soccer club in Bandung, West Java. Another witness questioned Monday, Jito, manages an unidentified soccer club.
Hairul, Pracoyo and Sukring, all referees, were questioned on Saturday.
Police questioned Amran and Edi last Friday. Both are executives of the Referee Commission and the investigation team for referee disputes.
Amran claimed that collusion was not a new phenomenon in the country's soccer league and could be traced back to the 1960s. Such practices have never been completely investigated in the past, he said. (cst)