JAKARTA (25 April 2015) – The Indonesian league failed to resume on Saturday after being denied a permit to hold matches, the football association chief said, as a row between the group and the government worsened.
The football association PSSI has locked horns with the sports ministry, which last week suspended the body and appointed a transition team to handle the sport.
Due to the suspension, the police have refused to give a permit to the PSSI to hold nine league matches slated for Sunday and Monday.
“Until this second we are still trying to get the permit from the police, but if we can’t then we shall wait for FIFA to ban Indonesia,” newly elected PSSI chief La Nyalla Mattalitti told AFP.
The world governing body, which generally opposes government interference in football associations, has previously sided with the PSSI and threatened sanctions against Jakarta if it continues meddling.
A spokesman for FIFA, which wrote to the government earlier this month urging them to stop meddling, said Monday the body was “currently monitoring the situation”.
The feud between the two bodies has also landed in court with the PSSI filing a legal action against the government over its attempt to suspend the association.
The mounting crisis is a huge setback for Indonesian football, which is only just recovering from a long-running feud between the PSSI and a breakaway association which led to the creation of two rival leagues. The two sides have now merged.
The latest row erupted this month when a government agency said that two teams could not participate in the Indonesian Super League due to ownership issues. But the PSSI disagreed, and then decided to halt the league entirely.
SOURCE: www.sports247.my / AFP
