P

ersija Jakarta striker Marko Simic is set to miss the club’s matches at least until April 9 after being detained in Australia for an alleged act of indecency against a woman on a flight from Bali.

The 31-year-old Croatian was arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) upon his arrival at Sydney Airport on Sunday after an alleged act of indecency without consent against a female passenger on the flight, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A female passenger on the flight was reported to have filed a complaint to cabin crew that she had experienced unwanted touching by Simic. A report was filed by the flight crew to alert authorities on the ground and AFP officers were waiting at Sydney Airport for the plane’s arrival.

Simic was arrested and charged with one count of committing an act of indecency without consent and one count of common assault on board an overseas flight, before he was released on conditional bail. On Tuesday, he appeared at the Downing Centre Local Court.

Persija was set to play A-League club Newcastle Jets FC in the AFC Champions League 2019 preliminary round two clash at the Newcastle International Sports Centre on Tuesday. They had defeated Singapore’s Home United 3-1 to reach the second round with Simic scoring one of those goals.

However, Persija, the Indonesia Liga 1 champion has been dealt a huge blow as the striker has been forced to stay back in Australia until the legal proceedings are over.

Commenting on this, Persija manager Ardhi Tjahjoko said the club would await the next phase of the questioning process.

“Regarding the allegation, we who shared the same flight were unaware of any such action. But the wisest thing to do is to wait for further developments in the case,” he said in press release on Tuesday.