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Chaos persists in ISL vs IPL standoff

National soccer league chaos continues as 18 clubs line up for the Indonesian Super League (ISL), due to kick-off on Thursday despite the fact that the league has no approval from the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) to operate

Agnes Winarti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, December 1, 2011

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Chaos persists in ISL vs IPL standoff

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ational soccer league chaos continues as 18 clubs line up for the Indonesian Super League (ISL), due to kick-off on Thursday despite the fact that the league has no approval from the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) to operate.

Persiba Balikpapan club director Syahril M. Taher said on Wednesday that Thursday’s ISL opening match between Persiba and Persipura Jayapura at Mandala Stadium in Jayapura would go ahead as scheduled.

“The 18 participating clubs, the players’ legal documents, the fixtures, the referees and sponsors are all ready. We will have an official match, as our clubs are sanctioned by the PSSI. There’s no reason to get a permit from the police to host the match,” Syahril said as quoted by Antara news agency on Thursday.  

The 18 clubs in the ISL are last season’s champions Persipura, Persiwa Wamena, Persidafon Dafonsoro, Persiram Raja Ampat, Persija Jakarta, Persib Bandung, Pelita Jaya, Arema Indonesia, Persela Lamongan, Gresik United, Deltras Sidoarjo, Persiba Balikpapan, Persisam Putra Samarinda, Mitra Kutai Kartanegara, Sriwijaya FC, PSPS Pekanbaru, PSAP Sigli and PSMS Medan.

The league will consist of 306 matches throughout the season, with 200 matches broadcast live by ANTV.  

The ISL received no approval from the country’s soccer body because the PSSI had sanctioned the breakaway Indonesian Premier League (IPL) as the country’s only official professional soccer league.

However, the IPL season, which had been due to start Oct. 15, remained uncertain.

The muddle started when the PSSI decided the IPL would feature 24 clubs. Some clubs filed protests against the number of participants and against the PSSI’s decision to include six specially appointed clubs among the IPL participants. Afterward, discontent mounted among the clubs at what appeared to be an unfair distribution of shares among the league members.   

The PSSI faced the latest muddle after four IPL clubs — Persib Bandung, Mitra Kukar, Persipura Jayapura and Persidafon Dafonsoro, decided to move to the rival ISL as they refused to play in the IPL matches scheduled on Nov. 26. The scheduled opening matches should have featured Persib versus Mitra, Persipura versus Arema and Persidafon versus PSM Makassar.

“We have reported these clubs’ refusal to play to the PSSI disciplinary and competition committees. We will have to change the fixture schedule in their absence,” said the IPL organizers, PT Liga Prima Indonesia Sportindo (LPIS) chief executive officer Widjajanto, on Tuesday.

With the recent walkouts, only 13 clubs remained with the IPL, including Persiraja Banda Aceh, PSMS Medan, Semen Padang, Sriwijaya FC, Persija Jakarta, Persiba Bantul, Persijap Jepara, Persibo Bojonegoro, Persema Malang, Arema Malang, Bontang FC, PSM Makassar and Persebaya Surabaya.

Confusion further piled up on Tuesday when the Indonesia Professional Sports Body (BOPI), which had validated the IPL license, announced that it would also legalize the ISL to fulfill the request of ISL organizers, PT Liga Indonesia.

“We are in the process of legalizing the [ISL] license,” said BOPI director Haryo Yuniarto on Tuesday.

However, on Wednesday evening, BOPI sent a statement to media recognizing the LPIS as the sole official operator of a national professional soccer league. The statement was based on a letter signed by BOPI chairman Gordon Mogot.

“Based on such considerations, the legitimate organizer of all activities of professional soccer including the competition, athletes, officials, training, medical, industrial, and related services in line with regulations is LPIS,” said Gordon in the statement.

The ongoing chaos in the country’s national soccer league could harm Indonesia’s chances at competing in the Asian Champions League and the AFC Cup championships. According to AFC regulations, the soccer clubs competing in those events are required to compete in the national league officially-sanctioned by the soccer federation in their own countries.

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