T

he Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has backed a FIFA investigation into Bahrain’s 10-0 World Cup qualifying win over Indonesia in midweek, although general secretary Alex Soosay later said he was confident nothing would come of it.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI), Djohar Arifin Husin, said he would not resign amid mounting pressure for him to resign after the defeat. “I know that this is shameful, but why should I resign if others made mistakes? This is not how we should solve the problem,” Djohar said as quoted by Antara on Friday.

Djohar said he would only take responsibility for the result in a congress of the national soccer body. He claimed the poor result was beyond the expectations of the PSSI, coaches and players and that the PSSI secretary general, Tri Goestoro, had apologized to the people of Indonesia.

“The PSSI tried to pick the best players, and aimed for the best results for the last match. But Bahrain clearly played better and defeated us,” Tri said in a statement.

The mauling in Manama raised suspicions because Bahrain needed a huge turnaround to have any chance of reaching the fourth round of the regional 2014 qualifiers.

Bahrain had to beat Indonesia, hope Qatar lost to Iran and also make up a nine-goal difference with the 2022 World Cup hosts.

FIFA’s security department has launched a routine probe, which the AFC said on Friday it supported and would “cooperate closely with”.

Soosay issued a second statement expressing his belief that the suspicions of foul play were groundless.

“I have read the media reports about suspicions of match-fixing,” Soosay said as quoted by Reuters. “But I am confident that none of our teams are involved in this. Bahrain was the better team, both tactically and technically.

“Moreover, I have gone through the official reports of the AFC match commissioner and the match referee and they indicate nothing.”

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan — Asia vice president on the FIFA Executive Committee — was keen to stress that while match-fixing should not be taken lightly, it was not just an issue for his region.

“It has to be taken very seriously regardless of what region [the match] is played in. It is a world issue, not just simply in the Asian region,” he told Reuters in London.

“The important thing is that if there are suspicions, you have to investigate it.

“It might just be a coincidence, however, there might be something behind it. Regardless, it can happen in any country in the world.”

Bahrain’s 10-goal rout almost sent them through, but Qatar advanced after a 2-2 draw with Iran and the point they needed in Tehran to clinch second place in Group E.

Indonesia, already eliminated, fielded an inexperienced side of Under-23 players after they were blocked by the PSSI from selecting their regular squad because the athletes mostly play in the breakaway Indonesian Super League.

The size of defeat marked a new low for Indonesian soccer, already torn apart by internal strife and political wrangling.

Indonesia finished bottom of Group E with no points, conceding 26 goals and scoring just three, the worst record of the 20 teams in the third round of Asian qualifying.