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outh and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi announced on Friday that the soccer reform team known as Tim Sembilan (team nine) would comprise figures from various backgrounds.

The team'€™s members are former Indonesian ambassador to Switzerland Djoko Susilo, former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chief Yunus Husein, former deputy police chief Oegroseno, and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chief for prevention Eko Ciptadi.

In addition, sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo, senior journalist and soccer observer Budiarto Shambazy, youth and sports minister assistant for development and partnership Gatot S. Dewa Broto, former national soccer player Ricky Yakobi and academic M. Nur Hasan will join the team.

'€œThe team will not only evaluate the PSSI [the Soccer Association of Indonesia] but also assist the minister in improving Indonesian soccer. It will work for up to three months [until March],'€ Imam told journalists.

The team was set up after members of the public started a petition calling for the PSSI to freeze its activities after alleged match fixing in a match between PSS Sleman and PSIS Semarang in October last year.

In the match, players from both teams scored own goals as they sought to lose to avoid facing an unwanted opponent in the next round. The incident saw lifetime bans issued to several players and the clubs'€™ coaches.

The farce is one example of the many problems facing Indonesian soccer. In international competitions, the national team now lags far behind neighboring countries that at one point were no match for Indonesia.

The national team suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Philippines in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup qualifying round. The result offered a stark contrast to 2002, when Indonesia crushed the Philippines 13-1.

Reform team member Gatot said the team would start by analyzing and mapping the problems of Indonesian soccer.

'€œAfter that we will find out how to overcome the problems and report them to the minister,'€ he added.

PSSI member development and stakeholders affairs director Budi Setiawan said if Tim Sembilan aimed to improve Indonesian soccer, then the PSSI was ready to hold a dialogue and cooperate.

'€œWe will wait and see when [the team] summons us for dialogue,'€ he said.

He added that the establishment of the team would not affect the PSSI'€™s congress, which would be held on Sunday, as the agenda for the meeting had been determined a year before.

The congress, he said, would evaluate the PSSI'€™s work programs and financial reports during the previous year.