Indonesia bidding for World Cup

JAKARTA – You wouldn’t think that a country like Indonesia had the audacity to bid for the World Cup of soccer. Although Indonesia is ranked No. 144 in the latest FIFA standings and couldn’t even advance to the football semifinals in the last Southeast Asian Games, the sport is a craze among native fanatics just like basketball is to Filipinos.

But lo and behold, Indonesia has expressed interest to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022. FIFA will convene its executive committee to decide on which country will host both World Cups in a meeting set late next year.

FIFA set a Monday deadline for countries to show intent to bid for the hosting rights.

Indonesia submitted its application last Tuesday, the sixth country to fall in line. Five bids were earlier turned in by England, Japan, Qatar, Russia and a Spain-Portugal tandem. Later bids came from a Netherlands-Luxembourg-Belgium combination, Mexico, Australia, Egypt, the US and South Korea.

The World Cup will be held in South Africa next year and Brazil will host the 2014 tournament.

Associated Press writer Ronald Blum recently reported the US will make a push to host the World Cup and President Barack Obama may lead the charge.

“Given everything that, frankly, President Obama has said, everything he stands for, everything he’s talked about in terms of reaching out to the world, that trying to bring the global game to the US and opening our borders up for a festival of 32 countries and hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the world would be viewed in a very positive way,” said US soccer federation president Sunil Gulati.

The US hosted the World Cup in 1994, mobilizing nine stadiums to accommodate the matches, and brought in a total attendance of 3.58 million or an average of 68,991 fans for each playdate.

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Some Indonesians, however, are skeptical about the bid.

A certain Andreas from North Sulawesi blasted the hosting bid in a blog published in the Jakarta Post the other day. He said Indonesia has no stadium big enough to accommodate VIP lounges and that its best stadium does not even meet the standards of a third division facility in the European league.

“Maybe, the only point (in bidding) is the corruption which is widely spread in FIFA as well,” said the reader. “What are the cons? (There are) not enough modern stadiums with a capacity of at least 40,000. A national flight carrier not allowed to enter the European Union because of the Munir case. Domestic airlines lack international standards. The national team is worse than No. 140 Vanuatu. No infrastructure. Not enough five-star hotels in every city (they can’t play the whole tournament in Jakarta). A health minister who is unable to control bird flu? As much as I love this country, I disagree with this idea.”

Two other readers backed the bid. “I believe we are a great nation, a nation that has amazing people who are so hospitable and kind, a beautiful nation,” wrote Ferdinand Petra.

“It will be good for Indonesia to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022,” commented a reader named Dede. “Football is the No. 1 sport in Indonesia and it is the only country that broadcasts all the football leagues live on its local TV stations (the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, etc.). Stadiums should not be a problem as football is a widely played sport all over the country.”

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An Indonesia sports promoter who declined to be identified said football is a national culture that is supported by politicians.

“Indonesia does not excel in football internationally but Indonesians love the game,” said the promoter. “Politicians use football to make themselves known. The giant cigarette brand Djarum is the biggest sponsor of football. There are no real Indonesia soccer superstars. But teams pay big money to bring in players from South America and Africa to play as imports. Football is the most popular sport then badminton and boxing.”

The promoter said boxing does not enjoy as much government support as football or badminton.

“There are close to 250 million Indonesians in over 1,000 islands,” said the promoter. “The best boxers come from the East, like our first world champion Ellyas Pical who is from Ambon. At the moment, Indonesia has only about 100 professional fighters. Most of the big fights are held in Java. Government should initiate youth development programs in the East so we can bring out more talent in boxing.”

In boxing history, the list shows only five Indonesian world champions. Pical, now 48, was the first to emerge, knocking out Korean Ju Do Chun to capture the IBF superflyweight title in Jakarta in 1985. He turned pro in 1982 and retired with a 19-5-1 record, including 11 KOs, in 1990. At the age of 40, Pical made a comeback and won a decision over Juwoni in Jakarta in 2000 but he never fought again.

After ending his boxing career, Pical fell into hard times and was even arrested for pushing drugs. But the national government has since come to his rescue. Pical now works for the Indonesian Olympic Committee as a consultant.