Yemeni team to complain about bad treatment here

Yemeni team to complain about bad treatment here

JAKARTA (JP): Yemen will lodge a complaint with the Indonesian
government on the poor treatment that its soccer team has
received since arriving here yesterday for a World Cup Asian zone
qualifier on April 13.

Ali Ahmed Al Ashwal, chairman of the Yemen Sports Federation,
told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the team had received a cold
reception and poor accommodation.

"We were not greeted by the host (All Indonesian Football
Federation) at the airport and we were given bad accommodation at
an unrated hotel," Ali said.

Ali complained that the federation had left the team to fend
for itself at the hotel.

The Yemeni team arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta airport and was
met by Yemeni ambassador Abdul Wahed Mohamed Fara. No football
federation officials were there to greet the team, Ali said.

Ali said he would send a letter of complaint to the Indonesian
Sports Council.

"This is against the FIFA regulations. The host should
actually provide good service to us. What we received was out of
our expectations. We expect an answer to our letter from the
Indonesian counterpart," Ali said.

Ali said the Indonesian team would be treated much better when
it goes to Yemen for their next meeting in Group five of the
World Cup Asian zone.

"We will give a good reception to the Indonesian team," Ali
said.

The Yemeni team of 20 players is accompanied by 10 officials.
After the match against Indonesia this Sunday, the team will fly
to Phnom Penh where it will play Cambodia on April 20 in the
first meeting between the two teams in this qualifying round.

Cambodia will host Indonesia on April 27 in the second
meeting. Indonesia blanked Cambodia 8-0 in their first meeting on
April 6 in Jakarta.

Indonesia will host another World Cup qualifier when it meets
Uzbekistan on June 1. The match is scheduled to be held in
Surabaya, East Java.

The federation has yet to confirm the venue of the Indonesia-
Uzbekistan match.

Brawl

The Indonesia-Yemen match was originally going to be held in
Manado, North Sulawesi, but was moved to Jakarta after North
Sulawesi Governor E.E. Mangindaan said that Manado could not host
it.

Mangindaan told federation chairman Azwar Anas in Padang, West
Sumatra, Monday that the Manado match had been canceled because
he could not guarantee security during the match.

A riot broke out recently among supporters and players at the
Klabat Stadium, Manado, in an Indonesian League game. Spectators
rushed onto the field and attacked several players, injuring
some.

ANteve will broadcast live the Indonesia-Yemen match at the
Senayan stadium on April 13 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets cost between Rp
7,500 and Rp 30,000.

Prediction

Hazim Jassim of Iraq, the Yemeni team's coach, said he was not
over confident that his team would beat Indonesia.

"I don't want to predict whether we can beat Indonesia since
your country is a tough team. Indonesia is one of the strongest
teams in Asia and should not be taken lightly," Hazim said.

"Although we had only one month preparation for the match, I
have drilled the players both in attacks and defense."

The young Yemeni team was selected two months ago. The players
are mostly around 23 years old.

Hazim said he knew a lot about Indonesia's strength after the
teams met in an Asian Cup match in the United Arab Emirates. "I
am amazed by the techniques applied by your team and we might
apply the same techniques in the coming match." (lnt)