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outh and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng said on Wednesday that the country’s two rival soccer organizations had agreed to hold a national congress amid FIFA’s threat of an indefinite suspension of the nation’s soccer.

He said the FIFA-sanctioned Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) and the Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI) would do everything in their power to save the nation from possible FIFA sanctions by rhetorically sticking to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that both camps signed in June in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The MoU serves as a platform for both disputing parties to settle key issues concerning the existence of two soccer organizations, two soccer leagues and the PSSI statutes.

“As for the national congress, the eligible participants have to be referred to the terms in the MoU, meaning Surakarta national congress members,” Andi said as quoted by sports news portal bolanews.com after a meeting with PSSI and KPSI executives at his office.

He added that the upcoming national congress participants still had to be verified.

The 2011 Surakarta national congress members are soccer clubs playing in the Indonesia Super League, which is under the auspices of the KPSI and is not recognized by the PSSI.

He said he expected the congress to run smoothly but in case of deadlock, “the government will do what it is authorized to do in accordance with the Constitution”, without elaborating further.

PSSI chairman Djohar Arifin had previously said the congress would be held in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan on Dec. 10 — right on the deadline set by the world soccer ruling body.

FIFA has warned the Indonesian government of the possible sanctions that “could go as far as an indefinite suspension” over rifts between the two soccer federations.