An Indonesian fan with an effigy of PSSI president Nurdin Halid at last week's protests. (Getty Images) March 8, 2011
(WFI) FIFA President Sepp Blatter says that disgraced Indonesian FA (PSSI) President Nurdin Halid will not be allowed to stand for a third term in elections to be held next month.The development comes as AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam confirms to INSIDER that he blocked moves in last week’s FIFA Executive Committee meeting to bar Halid from standing.
Earlier today Blatter held talks with Indonesia’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Djoko Susilo, at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
As revealed by INSIDER last week, Blatter confirmed that elections for the PSSI presidency would be held in full accordance with FIFA statutes, including its ethical code. Halid has a criminal record which would prevent him from standing.
"I ask Blatter, could Nurdin Halid be a candidate for president of the PSSI? And Blatter replied with a loud, no," Djoko was quoted by Indonesian media.
Blatter nevertheless confirmed that elections were ultimately in the hands of the PSSI, who meet on March 26 to decision on an electoral commission to oversee the April ballot.
The news of Nurdin Halid’s exclusion comes just days after the FIFA Exco rejected a request by its Associations Committee to declare him ineligible.
FIFA’s Associations Committee last week discussed the ongoing situation in Indonesia, where large scale fan demonstrations against convicted fraudster Halid were followed by a vote of no-confidence by PSSI members in their leadership.
Last Thursday its chairman Geoff Thompson recommended to the FIFA Executive Committee that elections be held in accordance with FIFA statutes by April 30, a view which the Exco ratified.
Thompson also ventured the opinion that Halid be barred from standing for re-election as he twice been convicted of criminal offences, which is in contravention of the FIFA ethical code.
Halid has twice run the PSSI from a prison cell, latterly in 2007-8 for his part in trafficking humanitarian aid donated to Indonesia by Vietnam.
But a FIFA Exco member told INSIDER that Bin Hammam asked for clarification on Halid’s eligibility and disagreed with Thompson’s opinion. An impasse followed with the Exco failing to reach agreement on Halid’s suitability.
Today in Ramallah, where he is visiting ahead of Palestine’s first competitive match on home soil tomorrow, Bin Hammam confirmed to INSIDER that he disagreed with Thompson’s opinion.
Halid told the AFC President that the jail terms he had served were politically motivated and Bin Hammam took him at his word. Halid is a member of the Golkars, the political party of former dictator Suharto.
At Celtic Manor on Saturday, FIFA officials were palpably irritated by the ongoing situation and seemingly by the fact that tough action has not been reached.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter declined to answer our questions about Nurdin Halid’s future following Saturday’s press conference.
from: www.worldfootballinsider.com
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