By David Gold
March 27 – FIFA is meeting this week to discuss what sanctions, if any, to take against the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) after they missed a deadline to take control of domestic football in the country.
Football in Indonesia has been paralysed by a dispute between the PSSI and the rebel Indonesian Football Saviour Committee (KPSI), who organised a breakaway Indonesian Super League (ISL).
FIFA has ordered the PSSI to reign in the rebel league and bring them back under their control, and had set a deadline of March 20 to achieve this goal.
The FIFA Executive Committee is set to meet in Zurich on Thursday and Friday (March 29 and 30), and the PSSI dispute will be on the agenda, following a meeting of the Associations Committee yesterday.
It is possible that if given the harshest penalty, Indonesia could be banned from international football as a result of the ongoing dispute.
Last week the PSSI suggested they would recognise the rebel league if organisation of the competition was given to them, in a last ditch attempt to avert FIFA censure.
However, a recent meeting to which the PSSI invited 13 of the clubs in the breakaway league was ignored by all but one team.
PSSI chairman Djohar Arifin Husin (pictured), is confident though that they will be treated with leniency by FIFA when they discuss the issue.
“Our hope is not to get sanctions, for if sanctions are [given], the loss will be for Indonesian football,” he told the PSSI official website.
“One of them was to reopen the door for the teams from the ISL to return to the competition under the control of the PSSI.
“We want this dual competition problem resolved as soon as possible.”
The problems have also had ramifications for the national team, with Indonesia unable to select players playing in the rebel league under FIFA rules, and last month they lost a World Cup qualifier 10-0 to Bahrain, which subsequently came under investigation due to the unusual scoreline.
The PSSI’s confidence they would avoid sanctions was underlined by their insistence that this week’s FIFA Executive Committee meeting “does not include the Indonesian football problem”.
Though the agenda does not make specific reference to Indonesia, insideworldfootball understands the issue will be discussed at the meeting, meaning the spotlight remains very much set on the PSSI as the dispute continues.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734840215labto1734840215ofdlr1734840215owedi1734840215sni@d1734840215log.d1734840215ivad1734840215
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