T

he Indonesian premier soccer league, now under the sponsorship of Qatar National Bank (QNB), will come to an abrupt halt, which former top official of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) sees as a result of the arrogance of the association'€™s current officials.

'€œIt'€™s due to PSSI'€™s arrogance that only FIFA [International Federation of Soccer] can intervene. They do not take into account the binding regulations in Indonesia,'€ Tondo Widodo, former deputy secretary-general, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The PSSI announced earlier that the QNB League, which kicked off on April 4 with only two match days having been played, would be indefinitely suspended after Saturday'€™s matches and it was hoped that new executive members elected in a congress in Surabaya on April 18 would find a way out of the quagmire.

Saturday'€™s matches will pit PSM Makassar against Sriwijaya FC and Barito Putera against Gresik United.

The announcement on the suspension topped off tense periods during which the Youth and Sports Ministry threatened to freeze all PSSI activities if it failed within seven days to follow recommendations of the Indonesian Professional Sports Body (BOPI) to exclude Persebaya Surabaya and Arema Indonesia from the league.

Both clubs have been listed by the BOPI as being ineligible to compete due to the issue of disputed ownership and the PSSI did not appear to heed the recommendations, with the troubled clubs playing their matches.

The ministry followed up its threat by sending a letter, a copy of which was also made available to the PSSI, to the National Police to reject match permit applications for both clubs. Only then, the PSSI responded with its decision to suspend the league.

'€œThe decision has been made by the PSSI, considering that recommendations by the BOPI will need deep analysis before deciding on a final policy,'€ Erwin Budiawan, a member of executive committee in charge of competition, said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Asked why the PSSI was reluctant to exclude Persebaya and Arema as recommended, Tondo said: '€œThe league'€™s CEO is aware of who is behind Persebaya and Arema.'€

He applauded the move by the ministry and the BOPI, saying that the PSSI must have been stunned with its loopholes being exposed.

The league may result in greater ramifications from world governing body FIFA, which reminded the PSSI last week to ignore interference, Reuters reported.

FIFA takes a dim view of government meddling in the operations of local soccer associations and has often banned countries from international competitions for it.

A FIFA ban could prevent Indonesia from participating in the joint qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup later this year.

The Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) also hailed the ministry'€™s move and criticized the PSSI for failing to stick to domestic regulations.

'€œI see it as positive move by the ministry for the sake of our national sports,'€ KONI chairman Tono Suratman said.