PSSI - The Defiance

Indonesia defies FIFA over disgraced soccer chief



JAKARTA, Oct 31, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia's soccer association Wednesday dismissed calls by FIFA to replace its disgraced president after he was found guilty of large-scale corruption.

The sport's world governing body this week called for fresh elections to replace Nurdin Halid, convicted over a cooking oil scandal, as president of the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI).
"The Indonesia Soccer Association will not organise a new election to replace the chairman Nurdin Halid as there is no request from the members of the association," PSSI secretary general Nugroho Besoes told a press conference.

PSSI is the peak body for local soccer clubs, whose heads vote to select the president.
A statement on FIFA's website posted this week said the world body had sent a letter to PSSI in June calling for fresh elections after Halid was elected to serve his second term as head in April.
The FIFA Associations Committee "decided that in accordance with the statutes, a person who has been convicted of a crime and is currently in prison would not be eligible to stand for election," it said.

Indonesia's Supreme Court in September rejected an appeal by Halid, 48, affirming a lower court ruling that he was guilty of misusing 169.7 billion rupiah (18 million dollars) in 1999 and sentencing him to two years in prison.

He was found guilty of siphoning cash from a fund for the distribution of cooking oil from the national logistics agency when he headed a body charged with distributing food essentials across the archipelago nation.