U-15 players to be selected in league

JAKARTA (JP): Thirty under-15 soccer players will be selected for a national training program from the U-15 Bogasari League, which kicks off on Monday at Delta stadium in Sidoardjo, East Java.

The selected players will attend the long-term training program for three years in Medan, North Sumatra, under the coaching of ex-Coventry player Jim Bryden from England, with Jairo Matos of Brazil acting as assistant coach.

The league is participated in by 19 chapters of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) and is divided into four groups. PSSI have also sent five talent scouters to screen potential players.

PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar had asked the regional chapters to send their teams, not clubs in their respective areas, because the association did not want to miss any potential players.

He also warned against players' ages being falsified. "I don't want this league to be marred by age cheating, which is done for a short term goal like winning the championships. The league is staged to develop young players. Age cheating is tantamount to ruining the players' and the nation's soccer future." (ivy)