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)