Courtesy: The Jakarta Globe


Indonesia To Host Qualifying Tourney

June 24, 2009

Indonesia received a welcome boost to its hopes of reaching the 2010 Asian Futsal Championship on Tuesday.

The Asian Football Confederation named Indonesia as the host of the Asean qualifying tournament, which will be held Feb. 13-18, 2010, at the Gelora Bung Karno Indoor Tennis Stadium in Jakarta.

“We received the appointment letter from the AFC on Tuesday, and it’s really an honor for us. We’ll do our best to be a good host,” said Yerico Umbas, vice president of the Indonesia Futsal Body (BFN).

Australia, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam will join Indonesia in competing for three spots in the tournament proper, which takes place May 23-30, 2010, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Thailand qualified directly for the finals after finishing second at the 2008 tournament.

Yerico said Jakarta had plenty of futsal fields, but only the Tennis Indoor Stadium and Istora Gelora Bung Karno were up to international standards.

National team coach Justinus Lhaksana welcomed the AFC’s decision but said home court advantage wouldn’t guarantee his team success.

“The competition in Southeast Asia is getting tighter, as was shown in the AFF championship, especially with Vietnam and Burma. And there will be Australia in the qualifying round,” Justinus said.

The BFN also announced new times and venues for the Indonesian Futsal League’s third and fourth series. Local police in Solo, Central Java, and Yogyakarta had refused to issue match permits because the series were too close to the July 9 presidential election.

The third series will now take place July 17-19 at Jatadiri Sports Complex in Semarang, Central Java, with the fourth series at Yogyakarta University Sports Center on July 25-28.








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