Soccer final moved to Manado

Soccer final moved to Manado

JAKARTA (JP): The All-Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI) will
move the final match of the fifth Indonesian Soccer League
playoffs from Senayan sports stadium in Central Jakarta to Klabat
sports stadium in Manado, North Sulawesi.

PSSI chairman Agum Gumelar said security problems inside and
outside the stadium during Thursday's semifinals caused Jakarta
Police to revoke the federation's permit to hold the final match
here.

Agum said the final, featuring PSIS Semarang and Persebaya
Surabaya, would take place either on April 9 or April 10. He also
said North Sulawesi Governor Evert Erens Mangindaan had approved
the move to Manado.

"I am sorry about the decision because we were heading toward
the climax of the playoffs. Based on our evaluations, the
quarterfinals and semifinal matches here went smoothly, with
relatively few security problems."

"I hope the city police do not have to move the general
election here to somewhere else for security reasons," he said
after meeting with playoff organizers and representatives from
PSIS and Persebaya at his residence on Saturday.

PSIS captain Ali Sunan and Persebaya captain Aji Santoso said
their teams would respect the police's decision, although the
move would interrupt the players' concentration. The two teams
will be flown to Manado aboard an Air Force Hercules plane on
Monday.

PSSI secretary-general Nugraha Besoes said PSSI planned to
move the playoff venue to a military installation in Cimahi, West
Java, if soccer fans turned violent and disrupted the matches.

The chairman of the playoff organizers, Maj. Gen. Sartomo,
said the decision to move the venue would help attract more
spectators. Manado, whose governor is a soccer fan, was one of
the most successful venues during the earlier rounds of the
playoffs.

Sartomo said playoff organizers would pay for PSIS and
Persebaya's lodging during their stay in Manado. He estimated
PSSI had spent about Rp 2.5 billion (US$287,400) to stage the
annual event.

Last year, PSSI had to cancel the competition because of
brawls between soccer fans in several towns.

Separately, City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman
said his men, following the abrupt move of venues, would begin an
operation to detain soccer fans from outside of Jakarta in an
effort to send them back to their hometowns.

He said on Saturday that the soccer fans, who had flocked to
the capital since Thursday, would be returned home by trains,
buses, police trucks and Navy vessels.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said police
trucks already had transported some 1,500 soccer fans back to
Central and East Java on Friday and Saturday. "We did not force
them to leave the city. We just helped them. We hope no more
supporters come to the city."

As of Saturday, police were still questioning 18 people from
Semarang, Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan, North Sumatra, who were
arrested in Senayan stadium on Thursday for carrying dangerous
objects, including explosives and sharp weapons.

Lubis said a PSIS supporter was arrested with four explosive
devices tied to his legs beneath his baggy trousers.

"Each of the bombs, which have a diameter of 15 centimeters,
could destroy a building and kill all those within a 10 meter
radius," he said, adding that the suspect so far had given no
motive for bringing the explosive devices into the stadium.
(bsr/jun/ivy)