Twenty-three clubs join soccer league

SEMARANG (JP): Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) secretary-general Tri Goestoro said over the weekend that 23 clubs from across the nation would compete in the first division of the 2001 Bank Mandiri national soccer league.

"Twenty-three clubs -- some of which used to perform in the main division, including PSIS Semarang, PSIM Yogyakarta, Medan Jaya and Indocement Cirebon -- will join this year's league," he said.

PSIS Semarang won the national league championship in 1999 but was relegated to the first division in 2000 after finishing in the bottom of the standings.

Tri said 21 clubs have confirmed their participation in the league's first division.

"We are waiting for two clubs to register. They are Persiter of Ternate, North Maluku, and Persipim of Minahasa, North Sulawesi. If the teams fail to register by Jan. 31 at the latest, the first division will only consist of 21 clubs."

He said the first division would consist of the western, first central, second central and eastern groups. Each group will include either four or five clubs, except for the eastern division, which will contain seven clubs.

The groups will be set during a meeting at the PSSI office in Jakarta in the middle of February. The matches are scheduled to kick off in March.

Last year, 21 clubs in four group were included in the first division. The winners and runners-up of each group qualified for the final eight, and the four top teams were promoted to the main division.

Last year's first division clubs that earned a promotion to this year's main division are Persita of Tangerang regency, Persijap of Jepara and PSS Sleman and Persikabo of Bogor regency.

This year a different system will be in place, and only the winner and runner-up in the first division will earn a promotion to next year's main division.

"The two top clubs will join the main division while the six bottom finishers in the main division will be relegated," Tri said.

"We plan to reduce the number of main division clubs in 2004 to 16. With the new system, the first division clubs will find it difficult to get promoted to the main division," he said. (har)