Arsenal To Take On Indonesia's National Team In Jakarta During Preseason Tour Of Asia

Arsenal will play a preseason friendly against the Indonesia national team in Jakarta "despite FIFA’s continued threat to ban the Southeast Asian team," according to Patrick Johnston of REUTERS. The match will take place on July 14 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, with the club "also planning further fixtures in Asia" as it continues its commercial push in the EPL-obsessed region. It will be the third year in a row that Arsenal has conducted preseason tours in Asia after Manager Arsene Wenger had "previously favoured taking his squad to mainland Europe for low-key trips." Arsenal will head to "one of the world’s most populated countries" where the EPL is king but the country’s national team and domestic competition is "in a mess because of a power struggle" (REUTERS, 1/29).