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JAKARTA: FIFA is expected to ban Indonesia from international football including World Cup qualifiers and the Southeast Asian Games, which the country is hosting in November, a report said on Monday.
Sanctions are imminent after the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) failed to resolve a bitter row on the weekend over how the game should be run in the country of 240 million people.
“In my opinion, the chance of a FIFA sanction is 2,000 percent,” acting PSSI Secretary-General Joko Driyono was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe daily.
Football in Indonesia is in turmoil after the PSSI failed to elect a new leadership panel on Friday night ahead of a deadline set by FIFA, the sport's global governing body.
An election congress broke down in acrimonious deadlock as supporters of a breakaway faction demanded a ban on the nomination of two “reformist” candidates be lifted.
A PSSI normalisation committee was tasked by FIFA to contest the election after the world governing body took control of the league last month.
“All I can say is we've communicated to FIFA that we failed to hold the congress,” Driyono said.
Army chief of staff George Toisutta and oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro were banned from contesting the vote for chairman, as was outgoing boss Nurdin Halid, who has been tainted by corruption.
Panigoro started a breakaway Indonesian Premier League in January, introducing privately-owned clubs instead of the PSSI model where teams are funded by regional governments.
FIFA is expected to decide on any sanctions against Indonesia at its executive committee meeting on May 30.
“We could hold a local league, but we could not play in any of FIFA's events. I don't know how long (a suspension) would last, but it depends on the association's commitment to solving its problems,” Driyono said.
Indonesia is 130th in the FIFA rankings – below Ethiopia and Yemen – and has never reached the World Cup finals.
