Courtesy: The Jakarta Post

Automatic Place Gone, Indonesia Casts Eyes on Hosting Asian Cup Qualifiers

April 6, 2009

by Wimbo Satwiko


With the indoor five-a-side game gaining more popularity, the National Futsal Body wants to bring some of the region’s biggest events to Indonesia.

BFN vice chairman Jerico Umbas said the country’s futsal governing body has offered to host the Southeast Asia qualifying zone for the 2010 Asian Futsal Championship.

“Originally, Indonesia was qualified for the 2010 Asian Cup, as we currently sit in 11th place in Asia,” he said on Sunday. “But the AFC changed the regulation and we have to play in the qualifying stage. And since the host countries [for the qualifying stage] haven’t been decided yet, we proposed to be one of the hosts.”

The Southeast Asia qualifying tournament is scheduled for Dec. 2-9, with the Asian Cup finals taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 23-30.

Though the sport’s popularity is growing around Indonesia, Jerico said the body was likely to select a venue around Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.

The most likely candidates, he said, were Istora or the Gelora Bung Karno Indoor Tennis Stadium.

But before it dreams of Asian Cup glory, Indonesia must first take care of business in its own region.

The national futsal team travels to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for the Asean Football Federation Championship on June 8-14.

Indonesia’s squad for the regional championship remains uncertain, though it has until the end of the week to submit its roster.

“We will call 24 players this week,” Jerico said. “The deadline is before April 14, so we will choose players from the 2008 Indonesian Futsal League and Asean University games squads.”

The Asian Cup roster could have some new faces. Jerico said the body would add more names to the player pool after it scouts players taking part in the 2009 IFL season, which is scheduled to begin May 2.

He also said there would be no change in team structure. This means that means Jerico will remain team manager and Justinus Lhaksana will once again act as head coach.

The body also had its talent scouts out for the Milo Futsal Cup in Jakarta on Sunday.

MTS3 Ciputat won the junior high school competition, which featured schools from around Jakarta, defeating SMP Widyakusuma 3-2 in the final.








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com