Courtesy: The Jakarta Globe


National Futsal Coach Left Cold By Hasty Revamp

Having already left the Indonesian Futsal League in limbo, Nurdin Halid’s shake-up could leave the national futsal team in disarray, too.

Indonesian Football Association president Nurdin last week introduced a raft of restructuring measures that included disbanding the National Futsal Body (BFN) and creating a new Futsal Committee, headed by Ferry Paulus.

National team coach Justinus was less than pleased with the reforms and said he was considering retirement.

“As the national team coach, my obligation is to the BFN, and after that decision I doubt I can continue my job,” Justinus said on Wednesday.

Justinus took charge of the national team two years ago and was in the middle of preparing Indonesia for the Asean qualifying zone of the 2010 Asian Futsal Cup. The Tennis Indoor Stadium at Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta is set to host the qualifiers on Feb. 13-18, 2010.

“After they announced the members of the Futsal Committee, I’ve been thinking about quitting,” Justinus said.

“This is a personal issue, but I have a big disagreement with one of the members, Andi Zamzani. I think I cannot work well with him,” he added, refusing to elaborate on those personal issues. “I’ll send my resignation letter and wish them luck. I hope they can bring the national team to a higher level.”

Indonesia was drawn in Group A with Australia, Brunei and Burma. Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are in Group B.

The top two from each group advance to the crossover semifinals, with the top three from the crossover advancing to the tournament proper in Uzbekistan.

Ferry, meanwhile, said the committee had yet to make any decisions regarding the national league or the national team.

“I just heard that from [the Jakarta Globe]. I don’t know anything about [Justinus’s] plan to quit,” he said on Thursday.

“But if that is so, we won’t hold him back. I think that won’t matter much with the national team’s preparation for the Asian Cup,” Ferry added.

Also up in the air is the fate of the Indonesian Futsal League Final Four, which was scheduled for Aug. 1-9 in Jakarta. Biangbola, Mutiara Hitam, Pelindo II and defending champion Electric PLN V-Sport have qualified for the semifinals after finishing in the top four during the regular season.

Ferry said the Final Four is the committee’s highest priority, adding that the league must finish in order not to add more of a financial burden to the clubs.

“We are committed to continuing the IFL. Our top agenda is to hold the Final Four before Idul Fitri,” he said. “We will not hold the Final Four on schedule, however, as the time is quite tight.”







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