Saturday, May 21, 2011
RIP Indonesian Football
Yesterday's much heralded PSSI congress to elect a new chairman ended as so much of Indonesian football ends. In a farce. Organised by the Normalisation Committee which was empowered by FIFA to arrange new elections, the congress got bogged down in irrelevance as a laughingly named Pro Reform Group stalled, demanding to know why George Toisutta and Arifin Panigoro couldn't stand.
The reason why they couldn't stand was because they had initially been rejected by a PSSI committee, possibly under pressure from the old leadership, FIFA supported that rejection and appeals to the Sports Arbitration Council were thrown out.
Anyway, who the bloody hell is the Pro Reform Group? Three months ago they were former Chairman Nurdin Halid's backing band. Now they want reform? Or are they still doing their hero's bidding trying to disrupt Indonesian football and stop it moving forward?
Indonesian football now faces suspension from FIFA a month away from the World Cup Qualifiers and already national team striker Bambang Pamungkas thinks that is no bad thing.
After the incompetence of the Nurdin years we are now witnessing further turmoil while those in a position to fight for power scramble to make sure they protect their own little empire in any new regime. And there, in a nutshell, is why it is naive to expect any wholesale changes in the way football in Indonesia is run. Too many people have a vested interest in the status quo and won't go away quietly.
In the west pompous sounding pundits say people get the governments they deserve. Do Indonesians deserve these humiliating bitch fests besmirching them?
# posted by Me @ 6:22 AM 
