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Football: Persipura Preparing for Playoff Despite Uncertainty, Accusations
Wimbo Satwiko & Sandy Pramuji | February 03, 2012

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Having received a lifeline from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Persipura Jayapura says it is ready to play in the Asian Champions League.

Persipura, champion of the now-breakaway Indonesian Super League, is waiting for the final verdict from the CAS, which is expected on Feb. 10. Regardless, it is preparing for a playoff against Australia’s Adelaide United.

“We are very ready [to play in the ACL],” Persipura general secretary Thamrin Sagala said on Friday. “After winning the ISL last season, coach Jacksen [Tiago] built the squad to play in the Champions League.”

If the full CAS panel upholds Persipura’s appeal against the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) refusing to register it for the Champions League, the Black Pearls will return to Asia’s top club competition for the first time since 2010.

It had to use Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta for that campaign as its home ground, Mandala Stadium in Jayapura, did not meet Asian Football Confederation standards. However, Thamrin said the AFC would now likely allow Persipura to use Mandala.

“The AFC inspected Mandala last year and said the stadium met their standards. There’s no reason we can’t use it,” he said.

Persipura was allowed to play its AFC Cup home matches at Mandala last season, though it had to provide chartered flights for visiting teams. AFC rules require a home stadium to be 100 kilometers or less than an hour’s flight from the nearest international airport. A commercial flight from Jakarta to Jayapura takes about six hours with a connection in Makassar.

Thamrin did not want to look too far ahead, though, as the CAS ruling was still provisional.

Adelaide said in a statement on Friday that it “remains confident that CAS will dismiss the appeal and the timetable remain as is.” It said it made “extensive legal submissions” to the CAS which it believed would “ultimately result in the appeal being refused.”

It also accused Persipura of keeping information from the CAS. It “remains confident that CAS will soon make orders for the production of documents Adelaide United FC and AFC knows are in the possession of Persipura but which it has refused to provide to date which will enable CAS to determine the issue of jurisdiction in favor of Adelaide United and AFC.”

Thamrin denied the claim.

“I don’t see any reason why we have to hold something back and not say the whole truth. There are smart people in the CAS and I think they would know if we did that,” he said.