Indonesia scratched from Millennium Cup

The Sahara Cup Millennium soccer tournament, which has been plagued with problems right from the start, received yet another jolt when Indonesia was scratched from the tournament for violating article 6 of the competition rules.

The decision to scratch Indonesia from the tourney was announced in Kochi on Wednesday evening by All India Football Federation secretary Alberto Colaco.

The team arrived on Monday with seven foreigners in their squad. They had four Australians, two Thais and a Cameroon player in their ranks, which was against article six of the competition rules, which says "all players shall be subjects of their country".

According to Kerala Football Association sources, Indonesian team officials were served with a letter on Wednesday morning, pointing out the violation of the rule. They were given time till evening to bring in replacements and also allowed a postponement of their match to Thursday.

However, the Indonesians expressed their inability to comply with the rules, forcing the organisers to scratch the team.