Senayan set to stage Milan-Persib match
Senayan set to stage Milan-Persib match
JAKARTA (JP): Organizers of today's international friendly
pitting soccer giant AC Milan against Persib Bandung consider
Senayan stadium in fine condition for the match.
Committee chairman Agum Gumelar said after a brief visit to
the 100,000-seat stadium yesterday that the venue is qualified to
hold any world-class competition.
Milan, brought by promoter Eddy Sofyan in cooperation with
Republika daily, will play the winner of the intercity amateur
soccer championship as a part of its world summer tour. The match
will be aired live on RCTI television, starting from 4 p.m.
The five-time European champion will have another friendly in
Surabaya, East Java on Monday. Another private station TPI will
televised Monday's match, starting from 3 p.m.
Several workers sprayed the green pitch with water as Agum,
amateur league administrator of the All Indonesia Football
Association (PSSI) and commander of the National Army's elite
forces Kopassus, was "forced" to take a close look at the soccer
field followed by journalists.
The pressmen were dissatisfied to hear Agum say: "It has been
reported that the pitch is okay," without trying to verify this
fact.
Agum told the reporters who accompanied him during the 20-
minute round trip that he was proud of the Senayan stadium and
hoped that someday the stadium would only stage prestigious
matches. The 32-year old venue, built to host the fourth Asian
Games in 1962, has been widely used by many soccer teams.
"We have to be selective in the long run. Everybody dreams of
adopting England's Road to Wembley," Agum said. The one-star
general said that this dream would probably never come true,
blaming the scarcity of soccer fields in Indonesia.
"The current drive for development has, to some extent, caused
many sport venues to vanish," he said. "Development should adjust
itself to the existing circumstance," he added.
Tunnel
The focus of yesterday's trip was the organizers' plan to use
the 22-year old, rarely used, underground tunnel which goes
underneath the stadium out to the pitch. All the players in
todays's match enter the pitch through the tunnel, in an attempt
to prevent frantic fans from getting close to the star-studded
Milan's players.
The underground entrance was built in the stadium to serve as
an emergency exit for players during a riot.
"There will be no direct contact between players and the
crowd, as we need the match run in a disciplined way," Agum said,
noting the recent friendly featuring another Italian elite club
Sampdoria.
Hundreds of security officers were unable to control a
disruptive mob who hurled plastic bottles at each other when
Sampdoria played Indonesia's Liga Selection early last month.
The organizers will ban sticks, plastic bottles and other
objects which may be used to promote disorder in the stadium.
Street vendors will not be allowed to sell their goods around the
stadium either. No less than 1,500 security officers will be
deployed to maintain order in today's match.
The curved 25-meter tunnel has been repainted and decorated
with green carpet. The lane of the underground corridor is around
150-centimeters wide and two-meters high. It looks uncomfortable
for European people who are larger than the average Indonesian.
At least 30 chutists from Russia and Kopassus will perform a
parachuting exhibition before the kick-off of the event. The
chutists are taking part in the Kopassus international skydiving
and parachuting championships in Serang, West Java. (amd)