|
|
Other News |
President vows to return Indonesia to soccer glory |
|
News
|
|
|
April 21, 2000 JAKARTA, APR 20 (AP) - President Abdurrahman Wahid has vowed to turn his country into an Asian soccer powerhouse, media reports said Thursday. During a meeting with officials of the national soccer federation on Wednesday, Wahid said he wanted the national team to regain its position as the dominant power on the continent. "Many people have expressed doubt about the national team," said Wahid as cited by the Indonesian Observer daily. "I am convinced, on the other hand, that Indonesia will become the most feared team in Asia." Soccer is hugely popular in Indonesia, but the national team has never succeeded in regaining the regional superiority it enjoyed during the 1950s and 1960s. Wahid, a respected Muslim cleric, was a popular soccer commentator before his failing eyesight put an end to his career. Speaking to members of the Indonesian Soccer Council, Wahid blamed the administration of the country's former dictator Suharto for allowing the sport to decline during the past two decades. He said greedy developers had taken over numerous soccer fields by paying off corrupt government officials. "The government must now take responsibility for soccer's progress in the country," he said. Indonesia is ranked 90th - just ahead of local rival Australia - in FIFA's world rating of national soccer teams. It has qualified for the Oct. 12-29 Asian Cup finals in Lebanon, and is grouped with China, Cambodia and the Maldives in the qualifying round for the 2002 World Cup. Agum Gumelar, who serves as minister of transportation in Wahid's Cabinet and heads the soccer federation, said that Indonesian soccer had experienced many successes and failures in its history. "These days, though, the latter seem to have come more often than the former," he told the meeting. |