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The Indonesian Football Association has promised to strictly follow FIFA rules when it holds a crucial summit in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Saturday.

The general assembly marks the first key gathering of members of the association, also known as PSSI, before its leadership election on April 29.

High on the agenda are the selection of electoral and appeals committee members as well as a review of the election code.

“Everything is set and now we’re ready for the general assembly,” PSSI secretary general Nugraha Besoes said by phone on Friday. “We’ve invited all 100 [PSSI] members and they will all be attending.

“Every organization has its rules and the PSSI and FIFA are no exceptions,” he said. “Organization members have to follow these rules and act accordingly.”

FIFA, football’s world governing body, had instructed the association to hold the general assembly and reschedule the election for a new PSSI chairman before the end of April.

This was after the PSSI’s appeals committee annulled its electoral committee’s decision to schedule the vote for March 26.

Choosing new members of both committees will be critical when the PSSI next month holds its first election in four years.

The previous electoral committee came under fire for allegedly being biased toward PSSI chief Nurdin Halid, who is seeking a third consecutive term.

Nurdin, who was jailed for two years for corruption, was allowed to run even though his criminal record made him ineligible to run based on FIFA rules.

But the appeals committee, which screens candidates, ruled last month that all nominations were invalid, setting a chain of events that derailed the election and prompted nationwide rallies for and against Nurdin.

The assocation said on Friday that it would select new electoral and appeals teams based on qualifications laid out by FIFA.

FIFA rules state that members of these committees “must have integrity, must not be a current member of the executive committee and have no family ties with executive committee members.” Government officials are also barred from the contest.

Nugraha also said the existing PSSI electoral code, though up for deliberation at the summit before a final draft is passed, had already been approved by FIFA.

Tuti Dau, secretary of the National Football Savior Committee (KPPN), a group of PSSI members seeking reforms in the association, said they would monitor Saturday’s summit to ensure that proceedings conformed to the governing body’s rules.

“PSSI officials always say we have to abide by FIFA’s rules so we’ll be making sure of that,” he said. “If just a word is different from FIFA’s Standard Electoral Code and FIFA Statutes, we will walk out from the meeting and then will hold our own general assembly,” said Tuti, whose group had been staunchly opposing Nurdin’s leadership.

There had been recent concerns that the assembly would not push through after the Riau Police was reportedly reluctant to issue a permit for the meeting.

Authorities said the PSSI needed to secure a National Police permit to hold the assembly because it was “a national event.”

State-run news agency Antara reported that the National Police issued a permit on Thursday night, just after PSSI concluded a news conference in Pekanbaru.

“We’re relieved now that we finally got the permit, so the meeting will go on,” secretary general Nugraha said.