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Jakarta Post

A nightmare for Indonesian soccer

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a joke at an Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) meeting in mid-2007: "Do you know what Marco Materazzi said to get Zinedine Zidane so irate that he head-butted him?," Kalla asked the audience

Damar Harsanto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, December 22, 2008

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A nightmare for Indonesian soccer

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a joke at an Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) meeting in mid-2007:

"Do you know what Marco Materazzi said to get Zinedine Zidane so irate that he head-butted him?," Kalla asked the audience.

"Was it, 'You are a terrorist'?" Kalla suggested.

"No, not that," he said.

"'Your sister is a whore'?," he went on.

"No," again.

After a pause, Kalla gave his version of the story, sending the entire hall into uproar, "You belong to PSSI!"

With his joke, Kalla wanted to remind PSSI bigwigs not to smear the reputation of the organization and embarrass Indonesian soccer in general.

However, the call seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

The same meeting concluded later with the reelection of incumbent PSSI supremo Nurdin Halid for his second term, even though Nurdin had been implicated in a graft case and later sentenced to two years in prison.

Previously, Nurdin had served a sentence in another corruption case during his first term.

This episode would be the precursor of a nightmare year for Indonesian soccer in 2008.

FANS TAKE CONTEST TO THE STANDS: Supporters of Persipura Jayapura soccer club attack a man during a brawl at a match between Persipura and Jakarta’s Persija on Jan 10, 2008. (JP/J. Adiguna)

In January, a Djarum League match between Arema of Malang and Persik of Kediri at Brawijaya Stadium in Kediri, East Java, ended with angry supporters setting fire to sections of the stadium and vandalizing the surrounding area. The organizers decided to move the venue to nearby Sidoarjo.

But before the dust from the Kediri ramble had time to settle, another incident flared up: Persija of Jakarta and Arema continued to field suspended players who had previously been implicated in violence in several matches, and ignored PSSI's disciplinary commission ruling.

Strangely, the commission did nothing to stop this and took no action on it afterward.

In February, another brawl broke out between supporters of Persija and Persipura of Jayapura during the league semifinal in Jakarta, claiming one life and forcing organizers to move the venue for the finals to Bandung, West Java.

The final between Sriwijaya FC and PSMS Medan was then held without supporters of the respective clubs, fearing more chaos.

Brawls and violence became banal news throughout the year.

Referees were beaten up by West Papuan players who were angered by a decision during the National Games match between West Papua and Jakarta in July.

Two weeks later, angry supporters of Persib of Bandung got into a riot around Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung, West Java, following their team's loss to Persija.

In August, during the final of the Independent Cup, an official of the Indonesian national team slapped Libya coach Gamal Adeen M Abu Nowara in the hallway leading to the locker room. Following the incident, Libya (which had led 1-0 before the break) refused to resume play and was denied the trophy.

In September, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, supporters of the home team, PSM, rushed onto the pitch and vandalized the stadium after their team was lagging 1-3 behind the tourists Persela of Lamongan, forcing the referee to stop the match.

In October, some players of Kediri's Persik got into a brawl with players from PSMS of Medan at Brawijaya Stadium in Kediri.

The spate of violence continued in November during a match featuring Persibom of Bolaang Mongondow versus PSIR of Rembang at Ambang Kota Stadium in Mobagu. TV footage shows some players assaulting referees and trying to humiliate them by stripping them of their clothes.

As chaos and violence continued on the pitch, off the pitch also PSSI's secretary-general, Nugraha Besoes, was reported to police by the management of Kaisar Hotel over a bounced check for Rp 685 million for the hotel's services during the AFF Under-16 Youth Championship soccer tournament in July.

Another PSSI executive, Sofyan Nikita, was also reported to police for the nonpayment of bills worth Rp 228 million due to three companies that provided services for the 2008 Pertamina Independence Cup soccer tournament in August.

Earlier in April, PSSI treasurer Hamka Yamdu (who is also a lawmaker) was detained and is now facing charges for having received misappropriated funds from the central bank.

So it's not surprising that so many problems for soccer this year, especially cases involving violence, have been left unsolved by PSSI executives -- they are too busy coping with their own problems.

And where was Nurdin?

After serving more than one year of a two-year sentence, Nurdin was finally able to enjoy life outside prison following his release on parole late last month -- only to face news his big ship about to sink and his crew was shackled with various criminal charges.

Much needs to be done, but he has so much trouble of his own.

After his release, Nurdin must also face the fact that the world soccer governing body, FIFA, does not recognize him as the PSSI chairman. His name has been taken off its website, www.fifa.com.

FIFA even ordered PSSI to hold an election to replace the embattled Nurdin since FIFA's statute does not allow a convicted criminal to head any section in the organization's structure.

FIFA's regional arm, the Asian Football Federation (AFC), also said on its website www.the-afc.com on Nov. 5 that FIFA had given PSSI until late December to finalize the revision of its statutes to comply with FIFA regulations. AFC has rejected PSSI's revisions twice already this year.

"PSSI has been given until Dec. 24 to review, finalize and have FIFA ratify the statutes, in line with FIFA's recommendations," it said.

"Once ratified, they must conduct new elections without delay," it added.

This may be the end of Nurdin in PSSI, and this may also be an end to Indonesian soccer's nightmare, with the prospect of new leadership to rebuild the ship and take the helm.

But then, nobody knows, because the 130 eligible voters in PSSI could sit in the same seats as they did in 2007, reelecting Nurdin and prolonging the nightmare.

Hopefully not.

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