April 20 – In a further escalation of a dispute that seems certain to once again incur the wrath of FIFA, the Indonesian government has suspended the activities of the country’s national association.
Earlier this month FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke wrote to Indonesia sports minister Imam Nahrawi requesting the Indonesian Football Association, known by its Indonesian acronym PSSI, manage its affairs “independently and without influence of any third parties”. The ministry and PSSI have been at loggerheads for weeks over the eligibility of two clubs to compete in the Indonesia Super League due to ownership issues.
The Indonesian Professional Sports Agency (BOPI), sanctioned by the ministry, wanted Persebaya Surabaya and Arema Indonesia to be blocked from playing, but PSSI had refused.
The sports ministry statement rejected any suggestion of government interference, saying that it was merely complying and enforcing FIFA’s own club licensing regulations “without any hidden agenda”.
Now the same ministry has suspended the national federation after it claimed the PSSI had failed to respond to three warning letters.
“PSSI was clearly proven to have ignored and violated the government policy through those warning letters,” the ministry said in a statement.
The government is to set up a transitional management body to handle all activities of PSSI but the move could result in severe FIFA sanctions including being barred from World Cup qualifying games.
“We will communicate with FIFA about this issue. We won’t be surprised if FIFA has a different view on this,” Gatot Dewa Broto, an official at the ministry, told Reuters.
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