Indonesia’s top football official, who as recent as less than a month ago acquired the much coveted role, was questioned by police on Monday over a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian nation’s domestic league.
Joko Driyono became acting president of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) in late January after former chairman Edy Rahmayadi resigned in the wake of a corruption probe that has seen more than a dozen suspects identified by police.
National police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo confirmed that Driyono was questioned Monday over allegations of his involvement in the destruction of evidence of match-fixing.
“The main focus of today’s examination concerns the problem of destruction, theft and removal of evidence,” Prasetyo told reporters.
Laptops, flash drives and numerous of documents including match and financial records. were last week siezed from Driyono’s apartment following a police raid on the premises.
He has been tossed a 20-day travel ban but has not yet been arrested. Indonesian football has recently been rocked by a series of match-fixing allegations.
The PSSI and police announced a crackdown on match-fixing in December after an executive member of the association was caught on tape trying to bribe a coach approximately $10,000 to throw a second-division game.
He resigned and was handed a three-year ban and fine by a PSSI disciplinary committee.
While it has a low international profile, Indonesia has attracted Premier League players including former Chelsea star Michael Essien and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora.
But Indonesian football has been tarnished on the global stage by a host of problems over the years, including deadly hooliganism and foreign players dying after going unpaid and being unable to afford medical care.