JAKARTA, July 14 (Reuters) - Indonesia have fired head coach Alfred Riedl just 10 days before a key 2014 World Cup qualifier in the first major decision taken by the country’s newly-appointed soccer federation (PSSI) chief.
“Riedl has been replaced by Wim Rijsbergen, who has been coaching (Indonesian Premier League club) PSM Makassar,” a PSSI official told Reuters by telephone on Thursday, without disclosing details.
Local media claimed three other support staff have also been sacked by Djohar Arifin Husin, who was elected as the PSSI head on Saturday after a bitter leadership row which required world governing body FIFA to help resolve.
Rijsbergen has been put in temporary charge of the national team, who travel to Turkmenistan for the first leg of the second round of Asia World Cup qualifiers on July 23.
Local media reported that Riedl’s three-year contract, signed in March last year, had been approved by former PSSI vice president Nirwan Bakrie but a PSSI executive committee member dismissed it as a “personal contract”.
“This has nothing to do with his (Riedl’s) competency as a coach,” Bob Hippy told the Jakarta globe newspaper. “It’s because he had signed a personal contract, so it’ll be hard for us to continue working with him.”
Austrian Riedl, who steered Indonesia to a runners-up finish at the southeast Asian championships in December, had been credited with bringing discipline to the side who are languishing at 132 in FIFA’s world rankings.
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