W

orld soccer ruling body FIFA has spared the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) from punishment but has ordered the association to settle its rift with the Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI) before March 30 next year.

The FIFA ruling was announced during an executive committee meeting in Japan on Friday, despite the PSSI’s failure to meet the deadline to resolve its dispute with the KPSI this week.

“Let me remind you we are not completely spared from sanctions. We got the sanctions delayed,” Rita Subowo, chairwoman of a five-member task force, said in Jakarta on Friday as quoted by Antara.

The task force, comprising Rita and National Sports Council (KONI) Tono Suratman, former PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar and government representatives Djoko Pekik and Yuli Mumpuni, was established with the hope of averting or at least delaying the looming sanctions, which initially looked certain as shown in a letter FIFA sent to the Youth and Sports Ministry last week.

In his letter, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke lamented that the national soccer authority had failed to meet the Dec. 10 deadline in settling the dispute.

The conflicting parties were expected to settle key issues, including the existence of two separate soccer leagues and federations, a review of PSSI statutes and the reinstatement of four expelled executive committee members: La Nyalla, Tony Apriliani, Erwin Dwi Budiawan and Roberto Rouw,

Instead of attending a roundtable discussion, both camps staged separate national congresses on Monday.

However, FIFA seemed to retract from its previous stance and decided to leave the rivalry for its subordinate Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to handle.

“I have talked to AFC president. He is coming to Indonesia on the invitation of the Indonesian Olympic Committee [KOI],” said Rita, who is also the KOI chairwoman.

She said that the issue was now up to national soccer stakeholders to tackle.

Rita said she would file a report with the government over the latest condition before meeting with AFC officials.

She urged the government to take action in the dispute in order to protect national soccer stakeholders.

The PSSI’s internal conflict began after FIFA removed Nurdin Halid from his position as PSSI chairman in April 2011. The PSSI congress, held soon after his removal, failed to elect new executives and ended in deadlock.

During the PSSI’s extraordinary congress in Surakarta in July 2011, the association elected Djohar Arifin Husin as its chairman, but some members objected to the decision. Disgruntled members then formed the KPSI and elected La Nyalla as its chairman.

The KPSI runs the Indonesian Super League, which boasts 18 clubs, while the Indonesia Premier League under the PSSI has 12 clubs.

The internal rift has added woes to dismal performance of the national team, whose most recent debacle was an exit from the ongoing AFF Suzuki Cup championship.

The Garuda team failed to advance to the semifinals after finishing in behind Singapore and Malaysia.

The trophy of this season’s tournament will now be fought over by Thailand and Singapore, both three-time champions, after winning their semifinal matches.