Soccer clubs urge fans to behave at finals
Musthofid and Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With thousands of soccer fans beginning to pour into the capital, the four teams playing in Thursday's semifinal matches in the Indonesian soccer league called on Wednesday for calm on the part of spectators, while security has been reinforced as part of precautionary measures.
Held at the 100,000-capacity Bung Karno Stadium, the semifinals will kick off at 4 p.m., with the first game between host Jakarta and Persebaya Surabaya.
The second game, which starts at 6:15 p.m., pits defending champion PSM Makassar against PSMS Medan.
"Our supporters have generally become more subdued. In Makassar, no objects were thrown," Ahmad Ahmadin of Persija said in reference to the quarterfinals in which his team emerged the group winner.
Ahmad was addressing a media conference here, which was also attended by the other three teams and officials of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI).
Persija, which, despite being the pretournament favorite, has ended up one or two steps short of the championship in almost every season for the last decade. It has a large number of loyal supporters called The Jak-mania.
"We have become more popular with Jakartans. Some of them came to Makassar. Now here, we want to urge them once again to be good spectators," Ahmad said.
Tension could increase with the prospect of misconduct by Persebaya supporters, who have a reputation of being bonek (penniless soccer fans).
Not only the organizers, but Persebaya officials ensured that bonek were a thing of the past.
"We have bonek no more. The supporters will come here mostly under the organization of the Surabaya Fan Club," Persebaya team manager Karwoto said.
Team coach Rudy William Keltjes strongly appealed to Persebaya supporters not to turn unruly. "This is actually beyond our field as we have to focus on the match. Anyhow, I'd like to see well- behaved supporters," Rudy said.
PSMS Medan and PSM also voiced concern about security during the matches. Even though they do not boast so big a number of supporters as the other two teams, their fans are known for their unruly behavior.
Meanwhile, the organizing committee announced that security forces would be reinforced with another 360 personnel in addition to the initial 1,500.
"They (security authorities) anticipated the overflow. More supporters (than expected) might come, which prompted further assessment on how to counter the number," Eddy Elison, PSSI public relations officer, said after the news conference.
PSSI secretary-general Tri Goestoro revealed that spectators would have to go through tight screening before entering the stadium compound.
"They will be searched for weapons, firecrackers and other materials considered dangerous. Even bottled mineral water is banned from the stadium," he said, adding that spectators would have to exchange the bottles for plastic bags provided at the entry gates.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said the police had anticipated the arrival of die-hard supporters, particularly those of Persebaya.
"We will deploy personnel at railway stations and bus terminals to watch their arrival. This is not because we don't want them to come here, we just want to maintain public order in the capital," Anton said.
He said that soccer fans would be searched for any weapons and explosives at bus terminals and railway stations and their cash checked.
"Only those who bring enough cash to stay in Jakarta for a few days will be allowed to go ahead," Anton said.
Bonek have been widely known for their behavior of resorting to blackmail and extorting money from passersby due to their lack of funds.