Vote-buying claims at PSSI congress
Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta | Sat, 07/09/2011 12:34 PM
Hours before the Indonesian Soccer Association's (PSSI) long-anticipated extraordinary congress begins, allegations have emerged that supporters of former PSSI chief Nurdin Halid are engaging in vote-buying.
"As far as I know, 72 voters have sealed a deal to support Agusman Effendi," Maung Bandung soccer club’s Deni Susanto said in Surakarta on Friday morning.
Agusman, who has been tipped to win the race to lead the PSSI, was named acting PSSI chief when Nurdin was imprisoned for graft in 2004.
Deni alleged that he was offered money to vote for Agusman. "Iwan Budianto [Indonesian Amateur League Body chief] offered me a US$15,000 down payment if I channelled my vote to Agusman. He said that if Agusman won the congress, I'd get more money, called 'a vitamin',
which would maybe worth up to Rp 200 million.
Deni questioned why he was stripped of his vote on Tuesday for disciplinary reasons. "I reckon that I was banned because I refused to cooperate with the status quo."
Ostensibly, Deni said he was stripped of his vote due to a walkover when facing ISP Purworejo in Division III match on Feb. 12, when Maung Bandung was at the World Intercity Invitation soccer tourney in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"We pocketed PSSI Bandung's permit for the invitational, so it was a legal leave. But now, it turned out like this," he added.
