BREAKING NEWS

Soccer-FIFA team to visit banned Indonesia

JAKARTA - FIFA will send a team to investigate the state of play in Indonesian soccer with the Southeast Asians hopeful the world governing body will overturn a ban administered for government interference.

Indonesia Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said on Friday that FIFA officials would visit in October, four months after the country was banned.

"Soon FIFA will deploy an investigation team together with the government and after that we can make a decision," he was quoted as saying by kompas.com.

"We will explain everything to FIFA."

FIFA stepped in to ban the country in June after a long running row between the government and the local football association (PSSI) over which teams should be entered into the top flight domestic league.

The government suspended the PSSI after they ignored requests to ban two teams whose owners failed to meet their new governance regulations.

FIFA, after repeated warnings to resolve the row, then banned the country in June, ruling them out of the joint 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign.