Wednesday, January 06, 2016
A 2nd President Cup On The Cards?
It may seem an odd thing to say but the proposed second edition of the President Cup is not a good idea. Yes I know, the last one, won by Persib in the final against Sriwijaya in Jakarta in front of 60,000 fans, seemed to be such a success but remember why it was even held at all. Because Indonesian football is banned by FIFA and cannot engage in any meaningful competition.
A President Cup in 2016 suggests little is being done to return Indonesia to the football family.
The draws for the AFC Cup and the AFC Champions League have already been held and Indonesian clubs are noticeable by their absence. Players and coaches are finally coming to terms with the negative impact the suspension is having on their career and looking overseas to further their careers with destinations from the predictable, Malaysia, to the less predictable like Myanmar and Bahrain.
A recent meeting between the organisers of the competition and the president was apparently focussed on the President Cup but little if anything was discussed about the PSSI and that is surely where action needs to be taken if football is to escape its latest malaise.
As an interesting aside the owner of Inter Milan just happens to be behind the organisers of the President Cup. With this involvement is he breaking FIFA sanctions by being involved in football in a suspended country? Does it matter anyway? FIFA is little more than a paper tiger at times and has taken no action in the past when foreigners played in Indonesia's rebel league for example.
Anyway, that aside. It looks like football fans can look forward to a year filled with more of these daft competitions and sod all else.
A President Cup in 2016 suggests little is being done to return Indonesia to the football family.
The draws for the AFC Cup and the AFC Champions League have already been held and Indonesian clubs are noticeable by their absence. Players and coaches are finally coming to terms with the negative impact the suspension is having on their career and looking overseas to further their careers with destinations from the predictable, Malaysia, to the less predictable like Myanmar and Bahrain.
A recent meeting between the organisers of the competition and the president was apparently focussed on the President Cup but little if anything was discussed about the PSSI and that is surely where action needs to be taken if football is to escape its latest malaise.
As an interesting aside the owner of Inter Milan just happens to be behind the organisers of the President Cup. With this involvement is he breaking FIFA sanctions by being involved in football in a suspended country? Does it matter anyway? FIFA is little more than a paper tiger at times and has taken no action in the past when foreigners played in Indonesia's rebel league for example.
Anyway, that aside. It looks like football fans can look forward to a year filled with more of these daft competitions and sod all else.
# posted by Me @ 9:34 AM 
