Indonesian soccer league suspended after fan killed

Sheikh Salman to run for re-election

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept 26, (Agencies): The Indonesian soccer league has been suspended following the killing of a fan by rival supporters.

The chairman of the Indonesian Soccer Association, Edy Rahmayadi, said late Tuesday the suspension will last until the completion of an investigation into the death of Haringga Sirila, a supporter of Jakarta-based club Persija.

The 23-year-old Sirila was beaten to death by supporters of Persib on Sunday outside a stadium in Bandung just before a match between the clubs.

Police in Bandung have named eight people as suspects in the killing of Sirila.

Persib, which currently leads the league, won the match 3-2.

Dozens of people have been killed in violence between soccer fans in Indonesia since the 1990s. Soccer is hugely popular in Indonesia but the official league is plagued by problems, including

Sheikh Salman

corruption and inept management.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa intends to run for re-election at their 29th congress next April, the continent’s governing body announced on Wednesday.

Sheikh Salman has been in the position since 2013 after he replaced Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, who was banned for life by soccer’s world governing body FIFA in 2011 amid allegations of participating in a cash-for-votes scandal.

“The greater good of the AFC and its members is a priority and we have seen the progress that we have made in the last five years. Football has shown the power to bring nations together and to do good,” Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman said in a statement.

“I am proud of what we have achieved in that time and I am not ready to leave this organization into a state of chaos. We have all seen what the AFC was before, and we have seen what it looks like now and I hope that we can continue that progress.