By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – The two rival football federations in Indonesia have agreed to merge to avoid stringent FIFA sanctions that would wreck the country’s entire international status.
But it now appears that the FIFA-sanctioned Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) and the breakaway Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI), who have been battling for control of the sport, have agreed terms after a meeting with the country’s Youth and Sports Minister Roy Suryo.
The two bodies will meet on March 17, three days before a final deadline set by world football’s governing body.
“FIFA sent a letter to the sports minister, urging progress before the deadline of March 20,” PSSI official Rudolf Yesayas was quoted as saying. “We had a meeting with the KPSI and sports minister and we agreed to work out all our differences at an upcoming congress on March 17.”
The rift began in 2011 when PSSI expelled four of its members, who went on to form the rebel KPSI and told its players not to make themselves available for the national team.
The rival federations signed a memorandum of understanding to resolve the conflict in Kuala Lumpur last June but failed to come to an agreement before an initial deadline of December 15, extended by FIFA for three months in what Sepp Blatter described as a “Christmas gift”.
But Blatter insisted that if the new March date was missed Indonesia would be barred from international matches and would lose financial assistance from FIFA.
Poor management, unpaid wages and corruption allegations have plagued Indonesia football and hit a new low in December when Paraguayan Diego Mendieta, who had not been paid for months by his KPSI club and could not afford medical treatment, died from a viral infection.
Suryo threatened to disband both rival factions unless a solution was found before the March ultimatum.
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