March 30 – Indonesia’s President today opened a national football conference reviewing the poor results of the national team and the country’s top football official.
Indonesia finished last in its qualifying group for next year’s Asia Cup in Qatar, and during the recent Southeast Asian Games it lost to minnow Laos.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the conference in the east Java city of Malang that the national team should be able to beat such teams in regional competitions and should even aim to compete at the global level.
“I want to see Indonesia revive … to arise again and become the tiger of Asia … even the tiger of the world,” he said.
Indonesia has played at only one World Cup, in 1938.
Indonesia suffered an 11-1 aggregate loss to Syria in the second round of World Cup qualifying in 2007.
Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand have all pulled ahead of Indonesia in the region, with domestic clubs similarly falling behind their peers.
Much of the blame over the national team’s poor performance in recent years has been laid at the door of Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid, whose leadership will be questioned again.
Many expect delegates will recommend he be removed from his post.
Critics have complained that Halid, who was once convicted of corruption charges and spent time in jail, has put his own interests above improving the quality of football in the country.
His plan to bid for the 2022 World Cup received no Government support and earlier this month Indonesia was debarred from the race by FIFA after being unable to provide the necessary financial guarantees.
“The plan…only made the PSSI into the laughing stock of the world soccer community,” wrote the Jakarta Post in a hard-hitting editorial published this morning.
“The bidding has been seen as a distraction from the chronic existing problems: Youth development, local competition and corruption.”
Halid has called the allegations groundless.
A high-level Government delegation accompanied the President, including State Minister of Youth and Sports Andi Mallarangeng, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar, and East Java Governor Soekarwo.
Organisers say that delegates will also look into widespread allegations of match-fixing in local leagues and discuss fan violence that has marred several games.
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