Soccer: U-16, U-19 Teams Officially Dismissed by PSSI

Jakarta, June 12 (Antara) -- The Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) has officially dismissed the national U-16 (Under 16) and U-19 (Under 19) football teams lead by Coach Fakhri Husaini effective today, June 12. "Today, we were invited by the PSSI to obtain clarity about the fate of the U-16 and U-19 teams. Both squads were officially dismissed today because there is no competition to compete in," Coach Husaini said at the PSSI's press office on Friday. While the U-16 team was earlier scheduled to compete in the U-16 AFF Cup in Solo from July 27 to August 7, the U-19 squad was supposed to participate in the U-19 AFF Cup in Sidoarjo from August 22 to September 4. However, the Asian Football Confederation dropped Indonesia's participation in the event after the PSSI received a sanction from FIFA on May 30. "Since being assigned as the U-16 and U-19 teams' coach, I never thought my task would end this way," the former national team player remarked. However, Husaini wants the U-16 and U-19 players to not lose their spirit and continue to train even with no competition to participate in. "We will try another approach. Hopefully, they still love soccer because one day, they will become great players," he affirmed. Earlier, Secretary General of the PSSI Azwan Karim had revealed that Indonesia's status as the host of the U-16 and U-19 AFF Cup and the 2015 AFF Futsal had been revoked by the East Asian Football Federation (AFF). Secretary General of the AFF Azzudin Dato Ahmad had written to the PSSI earlier this month (on June 4) to explain that the federation had no other choice but to revoke Indonesia's right to host the competition, following the sanction the PSSI received from FIFA on Saturday (May 30). "AFF sent the letter to the PSSI on Thursday, June 4. It revoked Indonesia's status as the host (of the tournaments). We still want to host them, but the situation is unclear as we don't know when the problem will be resolved by the government and when FIFA will lift the sanction," Karim was quoted as saying by the PSSI's press team in Jakarta last week on June 5.