RI soccer league reverts to old format

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian soccer governing body, the PSSI, has decided to revert to the old system of competition for the 2003 league season to pursue the revitalization of national soccer, PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar said here on Friday.

Unlike the previous seasons, in which the participating clubs were divided into two divisions, the 2003 league will see the teams play their matches in a round-robin format.

However, it is not totally new to Indonesian soccer as the system was once used by both club competitions and provincial administration-sponsored club competitions until the early 1990s when the two competitions were merged into the system we know today.

"As the most of the clubs wish, we have resolved that we will play the next matches in full competition," Agum said.

"With this format, there will be more matches, which means hopefully more spectators. And we expect the season will become livelier," he said.

Four clubs -- Persib Bandung, Persikota Tangerang, Pelita KS Cilegon and Persipura Jayapura -- have formerly objected to the new format.

"I'm aware of the differences, but it is impossible to satisfy everyone. At least, we have satisfied the majority," Agum said, adding that the four clubs had agreed to go along with the majority.

The competition is scheduled to run from Jan. 12 through Aug. 10 with 20 clubs on the list. The kick-off will be marked by a match pitting the 2002 champion Petrokimia Gresik against one of the remaining teams.

The competition format reversion means that there will be no more quarterfinals, semifinals and final as used to be the case. The champion will be known soon after the matches have been played.

In the past, the clubs who managed to finish on the top of their respective groups would have to play a few more matches until the grand final before winning the league.

Agum, who is also Minister of Transportation, announced that there would be subsidies and 40 percent discounts on flights to help ease the clubs' financial burdens.

"As a results of a compromise, we will grant Rp 350 million (US$38,888) for each club and flight discounts," he said.

Agum spoke about an ideal competition in the future in which he said that the league would only have 16 clubs in the competition as of 2004.

With the current 20 clubs, the 2003 competition will see six clubs demoted from the first division, from which two winners will be going through to the premier division.