Suspended Over Two Clubs

THE Ministry of Youth and Sport suspended the All-Indonesia Football Association [PSSI] on April 17. The suspension came about after the PSSI continued to allow the Arema Cronus and Persebaya Surabaya clubs to play in the Indonesian Super League (LSI) competition, despite the murky status of their ownership and players. In fact, the Indonesian Professional Sports Body (BOPI), the Ministry of Youth and Sport organization tasked with supervising professional sports in Indonesia, had specifically not recommended these two clubs to compete. BOPI held that there were two teams named Arema and two teams named Persebaya. One instance of dual entity derives from a copyright suit; the other is an unsettled remnant from the days when Indonesia had two national football leagues, the Indonesian Premier League (LPI) and LSI.

April 28, 2015