President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has reiterated his support for Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi in his handling of the crisis in national soccer that has set the government at loggerheads with the Soccer Association of
Indonesia(PSSI).

He pointed out the urgent need for reform of national soccer by the government, even if it did result in an international ban by the world soccer governing body FIFA. FIFA views the sports ministry'€™s decree suspending the PSSI as government interference in soccer affairs.

'€œIt doesn'€™t matter if we are absent from international competitions for a while as long as we can win big in the future,'€ he said in Manado, South Sulawesi, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He instructed Imam to ensure soccer competitions between regions go ahead as planned.

'€œIn soccer reform, the essence is soccer education, which lays the foundation for a fair national soccer competition,'€ he said. '€œI'€™m confident when the reforms are made we will be moving forward.'€

Jokowi'€™s stance appeared to contradict his deputy Jusuf Kalla, who has called for the revocation of the ministerial decree. The suspension of the PSSI, which was due to its refusal to exclude two '€˜legally flawed'€™ clubs from the Indonesian Super League (ISL), has brought domestic soccer competitions to a standstill.

Referring to a recent court ruling that upheld the PSSI'€™s legal challenge to the suspension and granted the association permission to resume its soccer activities, Kalla had urged the minister to lift the decree immediately bearing in mind the FIFA threat.

Imam Nahrawi - JP/Jerry Adiguna

Minister Imam had seemed to be on the point of relenting before he came back insisting he was not worried about any sanctions. His confidence about avoiding sanctions has been boosted by the ongoing developments in FIFA, several of whose senior officials were arrested by Swiss authorities on corruption charges prior to Friday'€™s congress in Zurich.

On the agenda of the congress, which included electing the next FIFA president, Indonesia'€™s continued membership was up for discussion. According to the program rundown released on fifa.com, the issue about the suspension or expulsion of a member was tabled on point number four, while the election of the president was
at number 17.

'€œHow can they suspend [Indonesia], while FIFA has a problem itself? They should clear up their own scandal, only then they can talk about reform of federations,'€ Imam said in Yogyakarta as quoted by kompas.com.

'€œIt is a fact that the main body is embroiled in corruption scandals. There should be detailed explanations. We'€™ll bow to them if they are clean,'€ he said.

The minister appeared to have ordered the transitional team, which was formed to replace the PSSI, but which was suspended following the issuance of the court ruling in favor of the PSSI, to resume its plans to stage a soccer
competition.

Called the Independence Cup, the competition will open for registration of participants on Monday.

'€œAmateur and professional clubs are invited. We are preparing the invitation letters,'€ Tommy Kurniawan, a member of the transitional team, said in Jakarta on Friday.

Although the competition is expected to kick off after the Muslim festivities of Idul Fitri, details of the competition format are not yet available.

'€œThe competition format and the number of participants will be decided later. This tournament will not use state funds. That'€™s why we have to find sponsors,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Indonesia U-23 team will be departing to Singapore on Saturday to take part in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Indonesia'€™s participation in the biennial multi-sport showcase had been uncertain amid FIFA'€™s threatened ban.

'€œWe are certainly going,'€ head of mission Taufik Hidayat was quoted by detik.com as saying.

The SEA Games will commence officially on June 5 but the soccer competition began on Friday. Indonesia is in Group A with Singapore, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar.