Striker Zaenal has punishment cut on appeal

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 08/02/2007 12:28 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI)'s commission of appeals handed down a one-year probation and Rp 50 million (US$544) fine to striker Zaenal Arif for breaking national team rules.

The punishment is more lenient than the original punishment of a six-month ban from competition.

""Zaenal cannot commit any violations in the next year. Otherwise, he will be automatically banned from competition,"" commission chairman Rusdi Taher said Wednesday.

The Persib Bandung striker failed to adhere to the 10 p.m. curfew imposed by coach Ivan Kolev two days before the decisive group match between Indonesia and South Korea at the 2007 Asian Cup.

After beating Bahrain the Indonesian team failed to secure a place in the quarterfinals, losing to Saudi Arabia and Korea.

Rusdi said PSSI officials should take into consideration the fact that Zaenal admitted his mistake and apologized for his conduct.

National Team Body chairman Rahim Soekasah said he accepted the commission's decision but had no idea if Zaenal would rejoin the national squad in the future.

""The decision is in Kolev's hands,"" he said.

PSSI plans to groom four teams to compete at the international level and has allocated Rp 20 billion to finance the training programs. Half of the money will be used to groom the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games team.

""We enjoyed a wonderful atmosphere during the Asian Cup and we want to maintain that,"" PSSI chief Nurdin Halid said.

""Nirwan Bakrie will remain the delegation chief with Rahim as his deputy. The team manager will be Andi Darussalam Tabusalla with Chandra Solehan as deputy, while Kolev will stay on as the coach assisted by Syamsuddin Umar.""

The officials will be in charge of grooming the Under-23 team for the SEA Games, scheduled for December in Thailand.

The team will warm up at the Merdeka Games in Kuala Lumpur from Aug. 21-31, where it will face Singapore, the Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and host Malaysia.

""We hope to win the Merdeka Games but our main goal is to win the SEA Games' gold medal,"" Rahim said.

PSSI will also prepare the U-16 and U-19 teams to compete at the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Cup in October.

Host Indonesia will face Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Hong Kong in the U-16 tournament. The U-19 team will fly to Singapore and meet Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, Guam and Hong Kong.

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