T

he national congress of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI), which opens Sunday, is to ratify the revised statutes, but prospects for improvement still look bleak, with the PSSI chairmanship under scrutiny.

Nurdin Halid, who was elected president of the PSSI in April 2007, has lost legitimacy in the eyes of international soccer body FIFA, citing that the election procedure violated the soccer statute. His credibility was eroded even further when Nurdin was sentenced to two years imprisonment for corruption charges the following September.

Although his aides insist otherwise, the PSSI organizational board on the FIFA official website has his status as "to be determined".

"FIFA *representatives* acknowledged that the name removal was a mistake. They promised they would fix it. So, there is no problem at all about the chairman's status," PSSI secretary-general Nugraha Besoes told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

FIFA urged the PSSI last February to revise the statutes in accordance with the FIFA Standard Statutes within three months, followed by the election of a new chairman.

Only a year later were the revised statues finalized and now await ratification by the congress, which runs until Monday.

However, the prospect of electing a new chairman with a clean record looks bleak as the content of the statutes seems to be twisted.

Nugraha hinted that Nurdin was still eligible to being elected because he had been freed on bail. Nurdin has been back at his post after he received parole on Nov. 27 last year.

On Saturday, he accompanied Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the launch of the Indonesian Soccer Academy at Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

Nugraha said: "The approved draft does not mention being found guilty of past criminal offenses. When the AFC and FIFA *representatives* approved the draft, they made no fuss about it."

The PSSI newly-revised statutes draft, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, differs from the FIFA Standard Statutes, which states in article 32 "The members of the Executive Committee . must not have been previously found guilty of a criminal offense." Executive members include the chairman and deputy chairman.

Article 35 of the PSSI draft says: The members of the Executive Committee ... must not *be* found guilty of a Criminal Offense." The word "previously" has been omitted in the PSSI statutes draft, yet Nugraha said: "We would never manipulate any words or sentences in the statutes."

Nugraha emphasized that the PSSI would mainly focus on ratifying the statutes draft, rather than electing a new chairman. "Indonesia will soon become one of only 30 percent of countries in the world applying the FIFA Standard Statutes. Let's just concentrate on that."

Nugraha said the vague status of PSSI incumbent chairman Nurdin had been cleared after the association met with representatives of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation in February this year.

"If there's still a problem, the AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam would not have come here, and we would not have been allowed to take part in bidding for the World Cup," Nugraha added. Indonesia is among ten nations declaring its bid to host the World Cup 2022.

The PSSI organizational board on FIFA's website is still a complete blank.

Tondo Widodo, a former PSSI official turned staunch critic, said he scented an unfair scenario.