PETALING JAYA: Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) president Erick Thohir has denied allegations that Indonesia was involved in FIFA’s decision to impose sanctions on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and seven mixed heritage Harimau Malaya players.
On Friday (Sept 26), FIFA fined FAM and suspended Facundo Garces, Jon Irazabal, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Hector Hevel, Joao Figueiredo, and Gabriel Palmero from competing for one year following documentation issues during Malaysia’s match against Vietnam in the Asian Cup Qualifiers last June.
However, shortly after the announcement, some parties alleged that Indonesia had interfered in the decision.
Erick, who is also the country’s youth and sports minister, stressed that Indonesia had absolutely no involvement.
"We did not intervene or get involved in the affairs of other countries," he said.
He explained that Indonesia respects all Southeast Asian nations striving to improve the quality of their sports.
"We must appreciate every country in this region that wants its sports to progress. From our side at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we are only focused on advancing Indonesian sports," he said.
