Soccer final moved to Manado<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The All-Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI) will
\nmove the final match of the fifth Indonesian Soccer League
\nplayoffs from Senayan sports stadium in Central Jakarta to Klabat
\nsports stadium in Manado, North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar said security problems inside and
\noutside the stadium during Thursday's semifinals caused Jakarta
\nPolice to revoke the federation's permit to hold the final match
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Agum said the final, featuring PSIS Semarang and Persebaya
\nSurabaya, would take place either on April 9 or April 10. He also
\nsaid North Sulawesi Governor Evert Erens Mangindaan had approved
\nthe move to Manado.<\/p>\n
\"I am sorry about the decision because we were heading toward
\nthe climax of the playoffs. Based on our evaluations, the
\nquarterfinals and semifinal matches here went smoothly, with
\nrelatively few security problems.\"<\/p>\n
\"I hope the city police do not have to move the general
\nelection here to somewhere else for security reasons,\" he said
\nafter meeting with playoff organizers and representatives from
\nPSIS and Persebaya at his residence on Saturday.<\/p>\n
PSIS captain Ali Sunan and Persebaya captain Aji Santoso said
\ntheir teams would respect the police's decision, although the
\nmove would interrupt the players' concentration. The two teams
\nwill be flown to Manado aboard an Air Force Hercules plane on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
PSSI secretary-general Nugraha Besoes said PSSI planned to
\nmove the playoff venue to a military installation in Cimahi, West
\nJava, if soccer fans turned violent and disrupted the matches.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the playoff organizers, Maj. Gen. Sartomo,
\nsaid the decision to move the venue would help attract more
\nspectators. Manado, whose governor is a soccer fan, was one of
\nthe most successful venues during the earlier rounds of the
\nplayoffs.<\/p>\n
Sartomo said playoff organizers would pay for PSIS and
\nPersebaya's lodging during their stay in Manado. He estimated
\nPSSI had spent about Rp 2.5 billion (US$287,400) to stage the
\nannual event.<\/p>\n
Last year, PSSI had to cancel the competition because of
\nbrawls between soccer fans in several towns.<\/p>\n
Separately, City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman
\nsaid his men, following the abrupt move of venues, would begin an
\noperation to detain soccer fans from outside of Jakarta in an
\neffort to send them back to their hometowns.<\/p>\n
He said on Saturday that the soccer fans, who had flocked to
\nthe capital since Thursday, would be returned home by trains,
\nbuses, police trucks and Navy vessels.<\/p>\n
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said police
\ntrucks already had transported some 1,500 soccer fans back to
\nCentral and East Java on Friday and Saturday. \"We did not force
\nthem to leave the city. We just helped them. We hope no more
\nsupporters come to the city.\"<\/p>\n
As of Saturday, police were still questioning 18 people from
\nSemarang, Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan, North Sumatra, who were
\narrested in Senayan stadium on Thursday for carrying dangerous
\nobjects, including explosives and sharp weapons.<\/p>\n
Lubis said a PSIS supporter was arrested with four explosive
\ndevices tied to his legs beneath his baggy trousers.<\/p>\n
\"Each of the bombs, which have a diameter of 15 centimeters,
\ncould destroy a building and kill all those within a 10 meter
\nradius,\" he said, adding that the suspect so far had given no
\nmotive for bringing the explosive devices into the stadium.
\n(bsr\/jun\/ivy)<\/p>",
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