PSSI executives to be questioned

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)