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The Asean Football Federation Under-23 Championship has been postponed to September or later because renovation work at Sriwijaya Stadium in Palembang has not been completed, an Indonesian Football Association official confirmed on Tuesday.

The tournament, which is to be held for the first time in six years, had been scheduled for July 16-26 but was pushed back after it was determined the stadium in the South Sumatra capital would not be ready in time to host matches.

Baryadi, chairman of the South Sumatra branch of the association, known as the PSSI,  said renovations were expected to be finished in early August.

“We’re already in the finishing stage. We’re currently working on the tribune and the pitch,” he said on Tuesday.

One of the PSSI’s options was to move the tournament to Jakarta, but Baryadi said South Sumatra insisted on keeping it in the province because officials wanted to use the tournament as a test prior to hosting the Southeast Asian Games in November.

Joko Driyono, the PSSI’s acting secretary general, said the AFF had agreed to push the tournament back to September or October.

“The AFF will hold a council meeting on July 31 to decide the exact date,” Joko said.

Only five countries have registered for the championship. In addition to Indonesia, Burma, East Timor, the Philippines and  Singapore will also field teams.

With the tournament postponed until at least September, the National Team Body (BTN) said it would consider delaying the opening of the U-23 squad’s training camp.

“The training camp for the senior side will open on July 14, but we’re still thinking about what to do with the U-23 side’s camp with this latest development,” said Iman Arif, a BTN official.

Meanwhile, the U-16 team departed for Laos on Tuesday to compete in the AFF U-16 Championship, which begins on Thursday in Vientiane and concludes on July 20.

The team has been drawn in  Group A and will open against East Timor at the National Stadium on Thursday. The other teams in the group are Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.

Group B features Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the semifinals.

Indonesia finished bottom of  its group at last year’s event and  the Indonesian Football Association Youth Development Body has set a modest target for this year’s squad.

“They’re still young, so we don’t want to burden them with the goal of winning the tournament,” Rahim Soekasah, the youth body’s chairman, told Antara news agency.

“For the team, this tournament is a stepping-stone before playing on a bigger stage, the Asian Under-19 Championship, which will start in October.”

At the Asian U-19 Championship, Indonesia will play in Group C with Australia, China, Macau and Singapore. The team will open the tournament against China on Oct. 31.

Coach Mundari Karya has called up 28 players for the championship, but so far only 20 have responded.

“Those other eight still have a chance to be in the team for the Asian Championship. I’m not writing them off,” he said.

National Under-16 Squad:
Goalkeeper: Muhammad Reza Pratama, Muhamad Aek Nabara
Defenders: Bagas Adi Nugroho, Rizky Syawaludin, Helmi Madila Ihza, Zalnando, Rahmat Hamka, Bryan Agung Fahlevi, Rizky Juang Pratama
Midfielders: Tedi, Muhammad Hargianto, Indra Kelana Nasution, Riski Setyawan, Irvan Ibrahim Yanes, Hanif Abdurrauf Sjahbandi, Rendi Refsanyami, Terens Owang Puhiri, M Firdaus Hudayana
Forwards: Ichsan Hari Kurniawan, Septian David Maulana