Jakarta Casual

Don’t get your hopes up, and whisper it quietly, but there might – just might – be a challenge emerging to Johor Darul Ta’zim for supremacy in Malaysian domestic football.

• First, he picks his best defender. I don’t know what Singaporean Safuwan Baharuddin did to get himself ostracised and loaned to Lion City Sailors, but he is undoubtedly Selangor’s best defender. Now he’s back in the team, they look steady with a good partnership emerging alongside Mamadou Diarra
• In midfield, a replacement for the promising but largely defensive-minded Syahir Bashah by the attack-minded loan signing no 10 Hugo Boumous allows Noah Laine and Noor Al Rawabdeh to rotate No 6 duties and get forward more often.
• Out wide, Faisal Halim looks like the player of 2023 and seems fully recovered from his horrific acid-attack, whilst Cape Verdean Alvin Fortes is also revelling in being involved more. Both scored against The Deer and looked in great form.
• And the Pan-Gon trademark of changing his front 3 around the hour mark with two new signings (Kim Ji-ho and Jose Pernambuco) keeping up the pressure on the now well-beaten Negeri Sembilan.
• High intensity, high pressure and positive football.

# posted by Me @ 4:53 PM 0 comments

'Lion City Sailors have parted ways with Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković with immediate effect. 

The Club would like to place on record our sincere appreciation to Ranko for leading us in a highly successful chapter of our history, and we wish him every success in his future endeavours.'

We never get to know the real reason with these at the best of times but this appears to be a real head scratcher.

Apart from the trophies he's already won detailed in the infograph, this season LCS have won all eight of their Premier League games as well as picking up the Singapore Cup. 

However, on the Asian stage the team have fallen short. In the AFC Champions League they finished third in the Group Stage, missing out on qualification on a head to head. Likewise, they proved less than dominant in the ASEAN Club Championship. Their 0-2 reverse against Cambodian side Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng last night means they have just one win from their five games in that competition.

From the outside looking in, one can only assume it is the failure to make an impact beyond Singapore's narrow borders that has seen him leave but again, that is only a blind assumption. Who knows what happens within the club.

It's gonna be interesting to see who takes over at Singapore's dominant team.

# posted by Me @ 7:19 PM 0 comments

The winner of those two heavyweights will meet either Selangor or Vietnamese side Thep Xanh Nam Dinh in the final with the semi-finals taking place over two legs in the merry month of May 

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch any of the games. They used to be screened on YouTube but now a different platform is showing them and each individual game costs £3.99. 

I get the idea of monetising but we're talking about the ASEAN Club Championship, it's as niche as it gets. With football fans already forking out for the familiar Premier League, Champions League, Bundesliga,  Serie A, that Spanish stuff +++ why would they spaff more money on something massively unknown outside of the region?

I must admit I never thought the competition would ever get off the ground after years of talk, and it could be argued it has yet to be fully accepted with no Indonesian teams taking part this season, but it's good to see it up and running. 

The only tweak I would make is that any sides competing in AFC club competitions shouldn't be in this as well. Spread the trophies round a bit. At the same time, I do realise not all clubs in the region are best equipped for one domestic competition, let along numerous international ones!

# posted by Me @ 3:42 AM 0 comments

Indonesian Super League

Persik v Bali United 3-2 (Jose Rodrigues 2, Adrian Retamar; Boris Kopitovic, Joao Silva) 2,772              

Persita v Persija 0-2 (Gustavo, Maxwell) 8,735

Malut United v Bhayangkara 1-2 (David da Silva; Moussa Sidibe, Moises Wolschick) 924

Persis v Persib 0-1 (Andrew Jung) 11,769

Madura United v PSBS 0-0 667

Borneo v PSIM 2-1 (Kaio Ferriera, Koldo Alberdi; Jose Valente) 5,544

Persebaya v Dewa United 1-1 Francisco Davalos; M Rizky) 23,431

Arema v Persijap 1-0 () 1,068

PSM v Semen Padang 0-0 1,035

Persekat v Persikad 0-0 508

Adhyaksa v Sriwijaya 15-0 (Makan Konate 3, Ramiro Fergonzi 3, Adilson Da Silva 6, Miftahul Hamdi 3) 1982

PSMS v Bekasi City 2-1 (Felipe Cadenza 2; Saldi Amiruddin) 1,348

Sumsel United v Garudayaksa 0-0 2,026

Persiraja v PSPS 4-2 (Connor Gillespie 2, Omid Popalzay, Jechson Tiwu; Asir 2) 3,792

Persiku v Persipura 1-2 (Caique Da Silva; Artur Vieira, Gunansar Mandowen) 3,020

PSIS v Kendal Tornado 0-3 (Gufroni, Akbar Firmansyah, Alhaitami) 3,122

Persipal v Persela 1-3 (Riku Ichimura; Herwin Saputa, Titan Agung 2) 

PSS v Barito Putera 0-0 12,967

Persiba v Deltras 1-2 9Takumu Nishihara; Neville Tengeg, Hamzah Rivaldi) 1,107

Lion City Sailors v Balestier Khalsa 5-1

BG Tampines Rovers v Tanjong Pagar 2-1

Hougang United v Young Lions 2-0

# posted by Me @ 7:42 PM 0 comments

The case of the seven footballers who obtained Malaysian citizenship with the apparent use of doctored Grandparental birth certificates – but who are constitutionally recognised as Malaysian citizens by the Malaysian Government – is rapidly reaching it’s (next) conclusion. 

Later this month (February), The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) based in Switzerland are to make a final ruling on their version of eligible citizenship in sporting matters. For now, they have suspended a 12-month ban FIFA imposed on the seven players. 

Immediately after the ban was suspended, many of “the Seven” – including the three who play as Johor Darul Ta’zim, suited up and started plying their trade again – listed as Malaysian on the ASEAN Club Championship line-up list.

It was either remarkable hutzpah from JDT, or an absolute belief that the players have a solid case with which to secure the eligibility of the players to play for club and country. 

The court of public opinion in Malaysia is firmly against “The seven”. But the law isn’t. And that is the crux of this remarkable drama in which I believe that the long-running role of FIFA as (authoritarian) arbiters of citizen eligibility is, at last, being called to issue. 

WHAT IS ELIGIBILITY, ACCORDING TO FIFA?

I have long been confused and perturbed by International football eligibility rules. Surely it should be straight-forward. You’re eligible to play for the country of which you are a citizen. 

If only things were so simple. 

Some Nations allow dual-Nationality; geographical borders are constantly changing and so does, consequently, player citizenship; Refugee status is sometimes made to citizen status; and many nations have (and are) keen to boost their international standing by naturalising players with no blood relationship to their nation of choice/convenience. 

Understandably, FIFA have tried to “solve” the issue. But their attempts to do so have muddied the waters, and they have made, to my mind, authoritarian and illogical decisions to approve who, in their eyes, can become a citizen of a nation. 

There’s a long history to this. As a young student of football, it baffled me to learn that:

• The Great Alfredo di Stefano played International football for Argentina, Colombia and Spain;
• It was only my interest in history and the post-World War II re-alignments that helped me comprehend how the most Magical of the magnificent Magyars, Ferenc Puskas, could later represent Spain,
• And how Barcelona great Laszlo Kabala could play for (as was) Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Spain.

 The imperfections of the football eligibility system remain though so that that:

• Of the Senegal squad that just won AFCON, 15 were born and brought up outside of Senegal, 8 of them in France.
• Of the Philippines women’s team that played in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, 18 of the 23 were born and brought up in the United States.

Five sets of brothers have played for different Nations at the World Cup

• Jerome (Germany) and Kevin-Prince (Ghana) Boateng;
• Inaki (Ghana) and Nico (Spain) Williams;
• Thiago (Spain) and Rafinha (Brazil) Alcantara;
• Christian (Italy) and Massimiliano (Australia) Vieri;
• John (Scotland) and Harry (Australia) Souttar

FIFA have tried to keep up with the changes that have been going on in the world. In 1962, they first got involved with the FIFA Congress ruling that a player could only represent one national team in their lifetime. This "singular football nationality" was tied strictly to citizenship, and “Citizenship” was tied to Parents and Grandparents 

Of course, British peculiarities had a part to play in the confusion – as did other Nations who had colonial empires. Get yourself born in Liverpool (like me) with some Welsh and Irish grandparental blood and, if I was good enough, I’m eligible for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. 

Hence, Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland team with scouser John Aldridge, Glaswegian Ray Houghton, Welsh-born Kevin Sheedy, Cornish-born Chris Morris and several London-born-and bred players took the Irish to number 6 in the FIFA rankings in 1993. 

In an ever-changing political environment, other nations also took advantage of historic colonial ties to bolster their squads. Of the France “Rainbow Squad’ that won the 1998 World Cup, Patrick Vieira, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and Christian Karembeu were born and brought up outside of France, but were French citizens. 

And compare the German team that won the 1990 World Cup with a squad of players born within the confines of West Germany, to the one that lost the 2002 Final in Japan 12-years later that included 10 players born outside of the “old” West Germany” with seven hailing from the former GDR. 

FIFA interjected again in 2004 when, in response to nations naturalising players with no ties, they required a "clear connection" so that “the player, a parent, or a grandparent must be born in the territory, or the player must have lived there for 2 years.” 

I note that this is FIFA, not the Governments of the affected nations, deciding who is, or isn’t, eligible for citizenship. 

Locally, Singapore took advantage of the 2-year ruling (and their own Foreign-Talent Scheme) and naturalised the likes of Agu Casmir, Itimi Dickson and Daniel Bennett to help them win the 2004 Tiger Cup; Mustafic Fahrudin, Shi Jiayi and Precious Emujuraie, John Wilkinson, Qiu Li and record-breaker Aleksandar Duric were later ‘naturalised’ and helped Singapore win 3 more ASEAN Cups up until 2012. 

FIFA increased the residency “rule” in 2008 from 2 years to 5 years. But also allowed for young players to switch national allegiance before they had played a senior competitive match. 

And then this received another “upgrade’ in 2021 when the 70th FIFA Congress allows players to switch if they earned no more than three senior caps before age 21, provided those appearances were not in a World Cup or continental final. 

FIFA’s current ruling as per Article 7: is that:

“Any player who (wants to) assume a new nationality and who has not played international football [in a match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football] shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only if he fulfils one of the following conditions:

a) He was born on the territory of the relevant association;

b) His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association;

c) His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association;

d) He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association.

HAVE FIFA OVERSTEPPED THEIR JURISDICTION?

FIFA have, with the best of motives, restricted or interfered in a State Government's ability to grant citizenship. That, I would argue, is not their role. 

The revelation (as unearthed by FIFA) of the falsified documents may yet mean that “The Seven” players’ citizenship is ultimately revoked, and may also result in a change in the process of granting citizenship in Malaysia. But as it stands, “the seven” are all legitimate Malaysian citizens. 

And the emergence of the falsified documents itself is a strange one. How did FIFA access the “real” documents? Aren’t there privacy laws that should restrict “strangers” from accessing personal documentation? 

THE FALL-OUT

The fall-out has been spectacular. Suspicions raised when “the seven” were unearthed (at different times, but all available for a 4-0 mauling of Vietnam in an Asia Cup Qualification match); many journalists request for “transparency” seemingly ignored; a mysterious complaint followed by a FIFA ban for “the seven” and fine for the Football of Association of Malysia (FAM), followed by their detailed revelations for the ban; the suspension of the FAM General Secretary and now the resignation of the whole FAM Executive Board. 

And now the “stay of execution” from CAS regarding the ban; the instant selection of the players by JDT and now we await the final CAS verdict. 

If only the laws on player eligibility were simple. 

FIFA have seemingly complicated something that "should" be relatively straightforward. If the rule was eligibility only for citizens, as approved by a Government approval process, and not some spurious and changing FIFA “5-year” rule can play for a country. 

I understand why the CAS issued a “stay of execution”. It’s a test of the strength of FIFA versus the law of Malaysia. I suspect this may have a verdict not too many are expecting. 

This has been a confrontation waiting to happen (and not only in football, but in other sports as well).

GUEST ARTICLE - Dez Corkhill

# posted by Me @ 6:59 PM 0 comments

The owners aren't one for needlessly spunking cash on big name players. Instead, they try to keep within their budgets, which may frustrate their passionate supporters but does mean after years of instability, they are now in a comfortable position.

Funding for football clubs has been an issue ever since the tap for local government and tobacco cash was turned off. Ticket prices are low and a poor run is soon felt at the gate.

This helps explain why we are seeing a number of newer clubs like Dewa United and Garaudayaksa on the scene, clubs with wealthy owners

Savvy clubs therefore, have had to look elsewhere for money and in a way look to what their peers do in other countries. It's a fine balance though, because the 'typical' Indonesian football fan isn't the wealthiest, often preferring knock-off shirts or cheap merchandise, rather than the official gear.

Fair play then to Persebaya for thinking out-of-the box. The Green Force have introduced VVIP Suites offering the minted supporter a free car parking space, exclusive access, access to the players' warm-up, special food and merchandise.

I'm not sure how much fans are being expected to pay for all this luxury. If you wanna ticket, you're gonna have to call a number.

That it's Persebaya trialling this does tickle me, though. Traditionally, there is an element of their fan base which doesn't take well to buying even the cheapest tickets to a game. Pictured above are Persebaya fans climbing over the wall at Sultan Agung Stadium to see their heroes. 

There is also the legendary trip to Bandung when their train trip across Java was covered by TV news crews to an audience of millions

# posted by Me @ 6:15 PM 0 comments

A typical fixture list would see SET v KTB, TFB v PEA and PAT v RTAF, all in Bangkok. Funnily enough, people weren't interested. 

Then along came private clubs, and leading the push were Muang Thong United. They looked and smelled like a professional football club. They had branding, albeit with a strong Manchester United influence, and they developed a tidy stadium to the north of Bangkok. 

They even bought in Robbie Fowler as player-coach at one stage!

All the while, the owners kept putting money in things were good. They were Thai champions in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2016. Even as recently as 2017, they won the Kor Cup, League Cup and the Mekong Cup. But in the major competitions, they finished runners-up in the League and semi-finalists in the FA Cup.

They've won nothing since, not finishing higher than 4th. This season, they are firmly in the relegation places, and Thai League 2 beckons

What happened? From afar, the answer looks simple enough. The moment a powerful, provincial politician, Newin Chidchob, bought an electric company, which happened to be Thai champions, and relocated them to the north east of the country. Buriram United was born.

Newin worked from the Muang Thong playbook. Branding was important, the club crest featured an important temple complex, and a stadium was developed. Newin had one advantage that the Muang Thing owners didn't. As a scion of a provincial political dynasty, he wasn't distracted by annoying things like shareholders, dividends or profits. 

From initially copying Muang Thong, he then looked further afield to build his football club. Much like the US under Ronald Reagan in the Cold War, Newin was able to outspend everyone to the extent that anyone trying to keep up risked bankruptcy.

Much like Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia, one man's money has dramatically changed the domestic football landscape to the extent his riches have built a massively successful behemoth, but at what cost to the rest of the league?

There is, of course, an irony of one rich entity outspending another rich entity. Chelsea did it to Manchester United. Manchester City did it to Chelsea. In the case of Muang Thong United, should we mourn the loss of a once mighty football club or should we take delight in the karma that has befallen them?

# posted by Me @ 7:06 PM 0 comments

And while JDT are just counting the days to being crowned again, it's easy to forget or ignore other clubs and their efforts to keep going and remain relevant.

I'm not one really to focus on a club's commercial arrangements but the recent announcement Selangor have teamed up with English terrace clobber company Peaceful Hooligan did attract my attention.

No idea how the deal came about or what it entails beyond a few t shirts but it is the kind of out of the box thinking I like.

It may not change the football landscape in Malaysia but it does show there are other clubs out there chugging along in the JDT slipstream and as long as they are, I will continue to try and highlight their efforts both on and off the field

What next? Immigration and CP Company or PDRM and Stone Island?!

# posted by Me @ 9:39 PM 0 comments

SUPER LEAGUE 

PSIM v Persebaya 0-3 (Gali Freitas, Bruno Pereira, Rachmat Irianto) 7,405

Persib v PSBS 1-0 (Berguinho) 28,682

No away fans were allowed, supposedly, but Persebaya didn't seem to miss them as they brushed aside PSIM in Bantul. They left it late, though with all the goals coming in the final quarter but Rachmat's was worth the wait!

# posted by Me @ 9:28 PM 0 comments

SUPER LEAGUE

Malut United v Persik 4-0 (Ciro Alves, Yakob Sayuri, David da Silva, Tyronne Piro) 1,081

Bali United v Semen Padang 3-3 (Jens Raven, Mirza Mustafic, Thijmen Goppel; Jaime Ocapo, Angelo Meneses, Ripal Wahyudi) 4,195

Persita v Bhayangkara 1-1 (Matheus Alves; Privat Mbarga) 3,099

Persijap v PSM 2-0 (Carlos Freires, Iker Vallejo) 4,156

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Jon Toral came on as a late substitute but was unable to change anything. Persik had been playing with 10 men since the 20th minute and Malut ambled to a comfortable win keeping them in touch with the top three check out some of the goals!

At the other end of the table, both Semen Padang and Persijap picked up useful points. The Cement Men were involved in a six-goal thriller on the Isle of Gods, initially taking a 2 goal lead before being pegged back

CHAMPIONSHIP

Persipura v PSS 1-1 (Matheus; Dion) 19,162

Sriwijaya v Sumsel United 0-5 (Rachmat Hhidayat 2, Jacinto3) 4,317

Persekat v Persiraja 0-0 1,030

PSIS v Persela 1-0 (Otavio Dutra) 9,571

Persiba v Barito Putera 1-0 (Abdul Rahman)

Impressive crowd in Jayapura witnessing 3rd v 2nd while a Borneo Derby (500 kilometres apart!) saw leaders Baarito Puter surprisingly go down 0-1 v Persiba, A more realistic Derby in Palembang saw Sumsel grab bragging rights as sorry Sriwijaya slipped to another heavy defeat

                             

Hougang United v Lion City Sailors 1-5 (Settawt Wongsai; Shawal Anuar, OG, Lennart Thy, Bart Ramselaar 2)

Reigning champions Lion City Sailors won. Not really news, is it? They're still top. Not really news, is it?

MALAYSIA CUP

DPMM v Kelantan Red  Warrior 1-1 (Hakame; Latiff) (DPMM 3-1 on aggregate)

Kuching City v Penang 2-0 (Nistelrooy, Ngah) (Kuching 2-1 agg)

Johor Darul Ta'zim v PDRM 1-0 (Teto) (JDT 11-1 agg)

After scoring six in the first leg, Teto continued his battle against the Cops by scoring the only goal in an irrelevant second leg. Rumours he has 1312 or ACAB tattooed on his inner lip are unfounded!

# posted by Me @ 2:31 AM 0 comments

Super League

Persis v Borneo 0-1 (Mariano Bauer) 3,510

Persija v Madura United 2-0 (Maxwell 2) 9,237

Championship

Persikad v Bekasi City 0-4 (Ezekial Ndouasel 2, Ramadhan, Saldi Amiruddin) 352

PSPS Pekanbaru v Adhyaksa 1-1

Singapore Premier League

Geylang International v BG Tampines Rovers 1-3

Malaysia Cup

Selangor v Kelantan The Real Warriors 3-0 (Chrigor Moraes 2, Faisal Halim) (5-1 aggregate)

Terengganu v UM Damansara 5-0 (Engku Shakir 3, Careca 2) (7-0 aggreage)

# posted by Me @ 10:41 PM 0 comments