FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

soccer

Ivory Coast Legend Zokora Is The Latest Addition To Indonesian Football

The 36-year-old striker is heading Semen Padang F.C. along with a flurry of other foreign talent who have been shipped into the local league.
Photo by Semen Padang F.C.

Didier Zokora, the one time defensive midfielder at Tottenham Hotspur joins a long list of aging football stars who have signed for top-flight Indonesian teams.

Semen Padang F.C. (Padang Cement FC) signed Zokra on April 24th. The 36-year-old (currently the oldest of all the marquee signings), moved from the Indian Super League, plying his trade at NorthEast United, to join the rebranded Indonesian first leauge, GO-JEK Taveloka Liga 1.

Advertisement

Joining the ranks of Michael Essien, Carlton Cole, Peter Odemwingie, Juan Pablo Pino, Mohamed Sissoko, Bruno da Silva Lopes, and Shane Smeltz as another marquee in the revitalized league.

Along with these transfers, the offical Indonesian military's football club, PS TNI, signed Elio Bruno Teixeira Martins, a 32-year-old striker who promoted FC União form the Portuguese second division into the top tier Primeira Liga.

With the cap on foreigners removed and a 15 billion rupiah per player salary cap applied, there have been a flurry of big money moves by Indonesian teams bringing in foreign players.

Coming out of an international ban and a long hiatus of an semblance of professional football association, the new Indonesian top league has yet to fully satisfy FIFA officials.

A new league rule that requires at least three U-23 players to have 45 minutes of playing time and another bringing the number of substitutions from three to five [have left FIFA officials scratching their heads](http://only if two of those players are under the age of twenty three); has left the international governing body of football scratching their heads. (https://sport.detik.com/sepakbola/liga-indonesia/3474629/ini-respons-fifa-kepada-pssi-terhadap-usulan-pergantian-lima-pemain-di-liga-1).