T

he Indonesian Super League (ISL) is set to kickoff on April 4, but the number of clubs taking part in the country'€™s top domestic soccer competition remains unclear following contrasting information provided by the sporting authorities.

Youth and Sports Ministry official Gatot Dewa Broto said the ministry and its supervisory board for professional sports, or BOPI, would not tolerate any clubs failing to meet the deadline of March 31 to submit their administrative requirements.

Out of 18 clubs in the ISL, seven face the threat of being ruled ineligible to compete due to administrative reasons. The seven are Persebaya Surabaya, Pelita Bandung Raya (PBR), Persela Lamongan, Mitra Kukar, Gresik United, Arema Cronus Indonesia and Perseru Serui.

The ministry and BOPI adopted a tougher policy on Friday.

'€œClubs failing to meet the requirements by March 31 will not compete in ISL 2015,'€ Gatot said as quoted by kompas.com.

BOPI had planned to announce its final recommendations on March 28.

The other 11 clubs in the league are Semen Padang, Sriwijaya FC, Persib Bandung, Persija Jakarta, Persipura, Bali United, Barito Putra, Persiram, Pusamania Borneo, PSM Makassar and Persiba Balikpapan.

'€œThe competition is scheduled to kickoff on April 4. For the clubs that fail to join, it'€™s in the PSSI'€™s [the Soccer Association of Indonesia] domain. They may be relegated. We'€™ll leave it to the PSSI,'€ Gatot said.

ISL operator PT Liga Indonesia gave a different version of the issue, with CEO Joko Driyono confirming that all 18 clubs would be allowed to take part and a review would be conducted at the halfway point of the competition.

'€œThe message from our meeting with the House of Representatives yesterday [Thursday] was that all 18 clubs would be given room until the league completes its first round,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

However, he did not say whether clubs would be eliminated if they fell short of fulfilling the requirements, only that the elimination of a number of clubs while the league was going on would not cause complications for the scoring system.

The government, through the ministry, has scrutinized the country'€™s soccer system in the hope of improving national soccer, which has been marred by disputes and controversies for years.

The domestic league'€™s lack of development has been partly blamed for the national team'€™s dismal performance in regional competitions, with the latest nadir at the AFF Cup last December, when Indonesia failed to advance from a group, including the Philippines and Laos, which are considered weaker soccer nations.