Police set to secure soccer playoffs

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police have prepared a 6,000-strong force comprising officers and fresh graduates to secure the Indonesian soccer league playoffs scheduled to begin in the capital in mid-March.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis told reporters on Tuesday the force would include 1,000 Jakarta Police officers and 5,000 fresh graduates from provincial non-commissioned police schools.

"The graduates will be dispatched to safeguard the matches before being assigned to their respective posts," Lubis said.

The officer did not mention the estimated number of soldiers to be used as reinforcements.

The playoffs will see 10 clubs from three regional conferences vying for three championship berths.

The All-Indonesia Soccer Federation (PSSI) originally planned to hold the playoffs in the three major cities of Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan but changed the plan and made Jakarta the host of the championship's second round.

Many people expect the political tension ahead of the June general election to boil over in coming months.

Early last week, Governor Sutiyoso said Jakarta was ready to host the championships and insisted that any cancellation would only give the city's security a bad image.

"My stance is clear. I don't want the competition to be canceled due to fears of unrest," the governor said.

"A cancellation will only present the negative image, especially to foreign countries, that the city is so insecure that even a sports tournament cannot go ahead here," he explained.

The governor was optimistic that Jakarta could make the soccer competition a success if it was free from soccer hooligans, who he said mostly came from cities other than Jakarta.

Officer Lubis suggested that both the city administration and National Sport Council (KONI) reconsider the plan to host the mass event in the capital at such an unstable time.

"Jakarta is still very vulnerable to mass conflicts and disturbances. So we appeal to those in charge of this event to reconsider the plan," he said.

Should the event go on, he said, the Jakarta Police would ask police in border areas in East and West Java to help screen supporters before letting them come to the capital.

"Police at the border cities are expected to screen supporters at all Jakarta's entries and gateways as I believe these hooligan supporters will take free rides on trucks and not public vehicles like trains or buses," he said. (emf)