Essien joins Indonesia’s Persib
Former Chelsea, AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder Michael Essien has signed with Indonesia’s Persib Bandung, the club announced Tuesday, the highest-profile player to join a team in the country for years.
The Ghanaian signed a oneyear contract for an undisclosed sum to join Persib, which is one of the best clubs in the country.
The 34-year-old had not been playing with a team since he left Greece’s Panathinaikos at the end of last season.
“I will give my very best to Persib,” Essien, wearing a club shirt, told media at the team’s headquarters in Bandung.
When asked what he knew about football in Indonesia, he conceded “not very much” but added that he had visited the country with Chelsea before.
However the move to Indonesia could turn out to be a shock.
Football in Southeast Asia’s biggest nation has been wracked by crisis for yea rs, with an explosive row between the domestic association and government prompting FIFA to ban Indonesia from international competition in 2015.
The domestic league ground to a halt for a while amid the row, but FIFA lifted the suspension in May last year and football in the country is slowly starting to recover.
Foreign players have also been badly treated by Indonesian clubs, with at least two known to have died in recent years after going unpaid and being unable to afford medical treatment.
Essien is the best-known international footballer to join an Indonesian side since the 1990s, when Cameroon World Cup star Roger Milla and Argentine World Cup winner Mario Kempes both played in the country.
The Ghanaian said he was approached by teams from other countries, including Turkey and Australia, but he had been impressed by Persib, without giving further details.
The club would not be drawn on how much they had paid for him. “The contract value is large because he is a former Chelsea player, I cannot reveal (the amount),” said Teddy Tjahjono, one of the club’s directors.
Persib finished fifth in last year’s Indonesian Soccer Championship.
MAN UTD CHARGED OVER FA CUP TIE CONDUCT
: Manchester United were charged on Tuesday by the Football Association (FA) with failing to control their players during the explosive FA Cup quarter-final with Chelsea, English football’s ruling body said. United’s Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera was sent off in the first half shortly after referee Michael Oliver warned captain Chris Smalling about the continual fouling of Chelsea’s playmaker Eden Hazard.
Marcos Rojo was also caught on camera seemingly stamping on Hazard’s chest in the second half of the match which Chelsea won 1-0 to oust the holders, although the Argentine defender has not been charged.
The FA have taken exception more to the reaction of the players when Olivier sent off Herrera, with several surrounding the official and arguing with him over the decision.
“Manchester United have been charged for failing to control their players,” a statement from the governing body read.
“It follows an incident in the 35th minute of the FA Cup quarter final tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday (Monday). “The club has until Friday, 17 March 2017 to respond to the charge.”