T

hirty years since its first visit, famous English soccer club Arsenal will return to Indonesia.

The tour, scheduled for July 13-14, has been applauded with excitement by fans. There was a horde of Gooners chanting on Tuesday during a press conference at the MNC Tower in Jakarta.

Hary Tanoesoedibjo, CEO of MNC group, the sponsor and official broadcaster of the tour, said Indonesia was the only Southeast Asian country to be visited by the Gunners.

“This is a strong indication that Indonesia has obtained trust from an international team like Arsenal,” he said.

Arsenal’s chief commercial officer Tom Fox was enthused by the presence of the fans.

“We have learned that Arsenal has one of the largest and loudest supporter bases in Indonesia,” Fox said.

This will be Arsenal’s third trip to the region in three years, having visited Malaysia in 2011 and 2012. It will be the first trip to Indonesia since 1982 for the Gunners, who have won 13 English Championships trophies and 10 FA Cups.

Fox said Arsenal would bring members of its first team, including Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Mikel Arteta.

The team will play an exhibition match against an Indonesian ‘Dream Team’ at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

The team will also visit the Arsenal soccer school and attend various cultural events.

“This tour will exercise the teams stamina considering they will be playing in a tropical country like Indonesia,” Fox said.

When asked about the current dispute between the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) and the breakaway Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI), Fox said he was confident that Indonesian leaders would sort things out before the FIFA deadline was due.

FIFA has threatened to ban Indonesia from all international competitions, revoke referee licenses and cut all donations to Indonesian soccer if the government does not settle the dispute by March.

Hary expected Arsenal’s visit to Indonesian to ease the conflict between the two associations.

“I hope the IPL [Indonesian Premier League] and the ISL [Indonesian Super League] can unite to play against Arsenal,” he said.

PSSI secretary-general Halim Mahfudz called the visit a big step for Indonesian soccer.

He expected all players invited by the PSSI to join the Indonesian team against Arsenal would agree.

The training camp for the 2013 Asian Cup qualifying matches had been jolted by more than 20 players refusing to join, which resulted in disciplinary action.